After the Divorce, I Found a Thousand Bitcoins - Chapter 66

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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I Got Divorced and Found a Thousand Bitcoins Episode 066

 

KH Recovery.

 

It was a company he knew.

 

‘It’s definitely a company that’s been rising lately, right? But why did the CEO of this place come looking for me? Wasn’t this mostly about investing in construction projects?’

 

The Yeongjong Island incident was the starting point for KH Recovery becoming famous.

 

He roughly knew about the events that followed as well.

 

Not everything, but he knew they had tremendous amounts of money.

 

And that man.

 

“I’m interested in this project.”

 

He said he was interested in some project.

 

And what he handed over was an IR distributed by the broker side.

 

‘No way, those bastards are distributing materials to completely unrelated places? Taking expensive commissions and doing their job like this.’

 

He wasn’t pleased with how those broker bastards handled their work.

 

Just as he was thinking about whether he should give them a piece of his mind.

 

“I think it would be good to produce this project as a series rather than a movie.”

 

As expected, he knew nothing about this industry.

 

He needed to educate him a bit.

 

“You said you were CEO Choi, right?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Well… you don’t seem to know our industry well, but making one historical drama film costs roughly 10 billion won. And that’s on the low end. If famous actors participate, it easily exceeds 30 billion won.”

 

Historical dramas cost a lot of money.

 

Moreover, these days actor fees had skyrocketed through the roof.

 

This was all because of Netflix.

 

Those bastards had driven up all the domestic actors’ fees, making production costs rise insanely.

 

“Series cost even more money. To properly bring out this project’s story, you’d need to make at least 50 episodes. There are large-scale battle scenes too, so to properly realize them, the production cost would easily exceed 50 billion won.”

 

If made according to their desires, it could cost even 100 billion won.

 

The problem was that there were no domestic investment companies that would provide that kind of money.

 

‘Netflix bastards. Stop investing in weird projects and invest in us instead!’

 

As he was feeling anger toward Netflix for not choosing him, the man called CEO Choi nodded.

 

‘Now he must understand a bit?’

 

It was when he was about to properly inform him of reality one last time.

 

“50 billion won sounds fine.”

 

“Excuse me?”

 

“How should I go about making the investment?”

 

“Uh, um… you’re saying you’ll invest? 50 billion won?”

 

“Yes. Is there a problem?”

 

He gulped at his incredibly calm manner of speaking.

 

“Of… of course not. Oh, look at me. I didn’t even offer you anything to drink. How about some coffee? There’s a Starbucks nearby too.”

 

CEO Kim Hyeok-gi’s attitude completely changed.

 

* * *

 

Choi Byeon looked at the contract placed before him.

 

“Are you investing in movies this time?”

 

“Yes. I found a decent project. Please check if there are any problems with the contract.”

 

“Understood.”

 

He picked up the contract and began reviewing it.

 

The content was quite lengthy, but there was one core part.

 

“The total investment amount is 50 billion won. This is quite a high amount even in the film industry, isn’t it?”

 

“Is that part problematic?”

 

“Well, more than that, there’s a high possibility you won’t be able to recover this money. The film industry recently has been considerably worse than before.”

 

He was aware of that part.

 

It was something that frequently appeared in the media.

 

“I’m thinking of negotiating with Netflix.”

 

“Directly?”

 

“Yes. I think we can talk with them through Richard. I’ve already put in an inquiry.”

 

“Hmm, certainly if it’s that person, discussion would be possible.”

 

Choi Byeon knew very well what position JP Morgan’s global chief held.

 

And he also knew the power that person possessed.

 

‘The CEO must also know about that, which is why he purchased Nereid’s bonds that Richard had requested.’

 

Choi Byeon still didn’t know how Nereid would change.

 

He only knew that Kang Hyeon had purchased them at a price cheaper than the bond value through his capabilities.

 

And he had normalized the company by firing the CFO who had been committing fraud.

 

He expected that alone would bring great profits.

 

‘By securing a 40 percent stake according to the bond value, when the normalized Nereid recovers its value, he’ll see tremendous profits.’

 

Of course, what Kang Hyeon was aiming for was slightly different.

 

Kang Hyeon knew that Nereid’s immersion cooling technology would succeed.

 

But Choi Byeon, who didn’t know this, was only thinking about the current value.

 

That alone was a great profit.

 

“If Netflix participates, the story would be a bit different. If their capital power is combined and they can provide service, recovering the investment wouldn’t be a problem. Of course, that’s assuming the project is made properly.”

 

Content investment carries high risks.

 

There were countless cases where projects that were sure to succeed ended up failing.

 

Just because you gathered a large production budget, great directors, and famous actors to make a movie didn’t guarantee success.

 

Conversely, there were also projects that achieved great success with really small production budgets.

 

“The CEO’s insight has always exceeded my expectations, so I’m not too worried.”

 

“But you’re saying I should approach this carefully?”

 

“Yes. Building substance might be better than flashy appearances.”

 

“Thank you for the advice. I’ll keep it in mind and proceed with the contract.”

 

It might have been unnecessary advice, but Choi Byeon felt rewarded that Kang Hyeon spoke to him that way.

 

“There are no major issues with the contract. If you’re confident about the box office success, it would also look good to include a profit distribution clause based on performance.”

 

“A kind of running guarantee?”

 

“Yes, that’s right. There’s some risk, but it would depend on how the CEO thinks about the project.”

 

“I understand. I’ll have to review that part too.”

 

The contract review was concluded like that.

 

* * *

 

Before proceeding with the contract, Kang Hyeon decided to have a meeting with Netflix.

 

The person who connected them was Richard.

 

-I’ve arranged a meeting with Martin, Netflix’s global investment director. You can proceed in the United States, or if time doesn’t permit, a video meeting is also possible.

 

“A video meeting would be more convenient.”

 

-Understood, then I’ll convey that to Martin and arrange the meeting.

 

“I owe you a big favor this time.”

 

-Haha! It’s a friend’s request, and we owed you first, so let’s say this is repayment for that.

 

And time passed, and the video chat with Martin proceeded as well.

 

He had already sent him the synopsis, so data about the project had been input to some degree.

 

Through today’s meeting, there was also a possibility of receiving positive signals from them.

 

-This is Martin. Please take care of today’s meeting.

 

“This is Mr. Choi. Thank you for arranging a meeting in such a short time.”

 

-Haha! It’s Richard’s request, so it’s natural.

 

It was a somewhat concerning response.

 

Because it meant he wouldn’t have come to the meeting if it wasn’t Richard’s request.

 

It bothered him that he said such things even after seeing the project.

 

And the concerning part turned out as expected.

 

-And we’ve reviewed the work, but, hmm. It seems difficult for us to service it on our end.

 

A rejection came early in the meeting.

 

But he couldn’t end the meeting here.

 

“May I know the reason?”

 

-First, there’s the fact that it’s a Korean historical drama. Of course, we’ve made historical dramas on our platform before, but that was based on zombies that caused a global syndrome.

 

Kang Hyeon knew that work too.

 

It was a work that had achieved a global hit with the genre of Korean historical drama.

 

That’s why he thought The Founding of the Great Korean Empire had potential too.

 

But as Martin said, the crucial difference between the two works came from their subject matter.

 

-Most importantly, The Founding of the Great Korean Empire is a story that starts with South Korea as its base and conquers other countries. This kind of story could cause adverse reactions in other countries.

 

Listening to the explanation, it made sense.

 

As the name The Founding of the Great Korean Empire suggested, this novel’s greatest appeal was tailored to national pride.

 

There was no guarantee that this appeal would work for viewers from other countries.

 

No, rather, the story of conquering other countries was likely to cause resentment.

 

-To be quite direct, there are many elements that China and Japan would dislike. The story’s development of waging war with other countries and expanding territory is highly likely to be problematic.

 

That was exactly what Martin was worried about.

 

Kang Hyeon knew this to some extent, but hearing it directly from an expert made him think that global production might indeed be difficult.

 

-So it’s difficult for us to invest.

 

“Thank you for your time. I’d like to work together if there’s a better work next time.”

 

-Haha! Of course. We always keep our doors open. I’ll send you my business card, so please contact me directly next time.

 

“Thank you.”

 

Perhaps because of his connection with Richard, Martin didn’t completely cut ties.

 

This was why connections were important, whether in South Korea or globally.

 

“Phew… I know it’s a work that will definitely succeed. But the start is blocked like this.”

 

It was an unexpected variable.

 

Until now, he had been able to immediately find ways to proceed with things that showed promise.

 

But this movie was a bit different.

 

‘The shrinking domestic film market is the first obstacle. Of course, if there’s a good work, audiences will seek it out, but that’s only in the realm of possibility.’

 

Securing a larger consumer base was the priority.

 

Moreover, Kang Hyeon had another thought in his mind.

 

‘For some reason, I feel like this movie production could create synergy with the Incheon Theme Park.’

 

The possibility was sufficient.

 

The Incheon Theme Park was a place where K-culture would be the main focus.

 

The problem was that the theme park was too scattered.

 

The current Incheon Theme Park was perfectly described by the term “desk-bound administration.”

 

‘That place needs to succeed for all the conditions I obtained to shine.’

 

The Incheon Theme Park wasn’t just an investment in construction.

 

After construction, a considerable area was allocated to KH Recovery for operation.

 

In other words, the theme park itself had to succeed for profits to be maximized.

 

‘From that perspective, if I create a work that succeeds globally and generates hot topics, it could definitely create synergy by linking with the K-Theme Park.’

 

The problem was that movie production aimed only at domestic box office success had limitations.

 

That’s why he wanted to sign contracts with platforms like OTT that could enable global distribution.

 

Since Netflix, the frontrunner, had rejected it, that part seemed to have fallen through for now.

 

Then Richard contacted him.

 

-I heard the discussion with Martin didn’t go well.

 

“Yes. Netflix said it would be difficult for them to invest.”

 

-Hmm, then how about talking with other places?

 

“Other places?”

 

-Yes. Other OTTs are also doing a lot of original productions and investing aggressively, so I have some places I can introduce you to.

 

“Then I’ll ask for your help.”

 

-Haha, yes. Then I’ll send the synopsis and let you know the results.

 

After hanging up, Kang Hyeon felt even more grateful to Richard.

 

‘I should buy him a drink next time.’

 

That wouldn’t be enough, but he had received so much help that he wanted to express his gratitude a little more.

 

* * *

 

A few days later.

 

Kang Hyeon received contact from Richard that a company wanted to have a meeting.

 

On the day of the meeting after scheduling with that place.

 

-Nice to meet you. I’m Gabriel, Amazon’s Global Content Director.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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