Rookie Talent Agent Knows It All-Chapter 720: Star Talent Agent (3)

The power of television was beyond imagination. A single variety show appearance could turn someone into an overnight star. Of course, maintaining that popularity was an entirely different story.

After Han-Ul's heartfelt thank-you aired, advertising offers inviting me to appear alongside Deok-Bae began flooding in. Eventually, my phone became useless for calls, so I borrowed Yoo-Jin's.

However, Lee Yung-Jin, who was still working overtime at the company, wasn't answering.

[The person you are calling is currently on another call...]

I tried again, but again there was still no answer. I switched to the office line, which no one also didn't pick up.

[The person you are calling is currently on another call...]

'What the heck?'

Not just our division but the PR department's line was jammed too despite the time already nearing 12:40 a.m.

Then Yoo-Jin's phone rang in my hand.

[Caller ID: Finance Director Jung Soo-Hyuk]

'Why would Mr. Jung be calling?'

Jung Soo-Hyuk was in charge of Hoop Entertainment's IPO and practically lived at the office. I worried something might have gone wrong. I picked it up immediately.

"Yes, Mr. Jung."

-Oh, Assistant Manager Lee Yung-Jin came by and asked me to call you.

"What's he doing over there?"

-Every company line is tied up. Even the president's office is flooded with calls about ads for you and Deok-Bae. No one can get through.

That explained everything.

"I'm sorry. Could you please put Yung-Jin on?"

-Haha, what are you apologizing for? This is something to celebrate! Hold on.

Lee Yung-Jin's voice came through, slightly breathless.

-Mr. Jung! We're getting swamped with ad and casting calls. What do we do?

It reminded me of when Yoo-Jin blew up from In the Name of God, or when Lee Tae-Poong went blockbuster with Beyond the Boundary. However, tonight felt even bigger. Dramas and films raised a star's class. But for recognition, variety shows were unmatched.

"Personal phone and company phones are out, so send a Kk Talk blast. Ask them to email ad inquiries. Say we'll review and respond after."

-Got it. Oh, and a lot of them want you in the ad too. What should I tell them?

Before or after regression, I had never once considered doing commercials. After all, I wasn't a celebrity but a talent agent. Yet with this kind of buzz, I had to think differently. If my appearance helped raise Deok-Bae's profile, then it was worth it.

"I'll do it. But tell them we'll review everything and get back to them. Also, separate any solo ad offers for Deok-Bae. And one more thing—don't accept less than three hundred million won per year for him."

-Three hundred million...?

"Even if I'm in it too, that amount stays firm."

-But Mr. Jung... Deok-Bae just debuted. Isn't that a bit much?

That kind of number was reserved for proven leads who had carried successful projects.

"It's fine. This is exactly the kind of moment you swing big."

There was no end to advertisers wanting to plaster popular celebrities on their banners. But if a celebrity's rate was too low, it caused all kinds of problems. If someone was clearly popular but underpriced, every advertiser would just chase after them. That ripple would hit the rates of other talents at the same agency and even the broader industry.

So times like this were exactly when rates had to go up to maximize my actor's earnings and to coexist fairly with other celebrities.

-Understood. Then how should we price your appearance, Mr. Jung?

"Don't assign a number to mine. For me, it's not about the money. It's about what kind of ad it is." Lee Yung-Jin was about to hang up, so I quickly asked, "Are there any ad offers for Miss Sung-Yeon?"

The focus had been on Deok-Bae and me, but Oh Sung-Yeon, who had appeared in Part 1 of The Omniscient Viewpoint, had gotten a good reaction too.

She was currently playing the role of Sook-Ja on MBS' The Infinite Job Hunt Era and had shown her real rooftop apartment life on the show. The viewers were eating it up, praising her as a perfect 100% match for the character.

-Miss Oh Sung-Yeon received an offer from EmploymentNet for fifty million won over two years. A few others came in too, but since she's still a rookie, most are offering under twenty million won.

EmploymentNet was a fast-growing job portal that reached industry top 10 in just a year. It was a perfect match for Oh Sung-Yeon's character, Sook-Ja. Still, the offer was too low.

"Upgrade it to fifty million per year. If they're interested, tell them to meet in person. Pass on the rest."

-Got it. But seriously, Mr. Jung, please come back soon. The entire office is about to short-circuit.

"Sorry. I'll catch the first flight back in the morning."

-Alright. I'll move ahead with what you said.

"Thanks for holding down the fort."

-Yes, sir.

I hung up and took a deep breath before slowly turning to the others. "We're a huge hit, by the way."

Everyone in the VIP lounge covered their mouths and threw their hands in the air. Silent cheers echoed through the room. Like a game of 007 Bang[refSsimple, fast-paced pointing game played in a circle, where players say "Bang" when pointing, passing the responsibility to shoot to someone else-/ref], they pointed at each other and mouthed victory calls.

"Mm-mm~ mm~"

"Mmmffff!!"

It was 1 a.m., so no one shouted out loud, but their eyes were sparkling with joy.

***

The next morning, I took an early flight to Seoul. I sat in business class, flipping open my laptop to check the entertainment headlines.

[The Omniscient Viewpoint surges to peak minute ratings of 15.1%!]

[The Omniscient Viewpoint hits 11.7% average—record-breaking!]

[The Omniscient Viewpoint surpasses past peak; producers thrilled by response!]

[Choi Deok-Bae, Choi Han-Ul, and Talent Agent Jung Yoon-Ho's chemistry leaves viewers in awe.]

[All eyes on Choi Deok-Bae's 'handsome talent agent'—steals the spotlight!]

'Nice response.'

For a midnight variety show, this was beyond a smash hit. The reporters were in such a rush that they didn't even interview me but they just wrote like they knew all about me.

'Once I handle the urgent stuff, I'd need to make time for the press too.'

If one were a competent talent agent, they used moments like this to boost their actor's public presence. After skimming the articles, I opened the email summary Lee Yung-Jin had organized. In total, there were 352 ad inquiries for Deok-Bae. And those were just the ones collected between 12:30 a.m. and 6 a.m.

Among them, a company called ONE_HIT, a sketchy investment advisory firm, had offered two hundred million for Deok-Bae and one hundred million for me.

"They seriously thought I'd be tempted?"

Some companies tried to bribe talent agents like this, and they were always the first to get blacklisted. After all, they were the type to cause scandals later.

I filtered out any offers under three hundred million. Even then, 23 companies still met the asking price. All of them, of course, wanted me to appear too. I logged those 23 offers into a separate file and added notes beside each based on my memories from before regression. I decided to finalize everything after discussing it with the staff back at the office.

Afterward, I drafted a polite apology email to the remaining companies.

Tap.

"All done."

The moment I closed the laptop, something odd occurred to me.

LM Apparel, L.M.L., Daechon Inc., Jinseong Foods, and LT Entertainment— none of my usual white knights had reached out.

'Why... haven't they contacted me?'

It felt strange that the companies who normally sent ad offers on their own were all silent. However, cold-calling them for ads would be even stranger.

'Maybe they're sitting this one out.'

As that thought passed through my mind, the plane touched down at Gimpo Airport.

***

It was just past 9 a.m. when I arrived at the company. When I reached the fourth floor, the building was nearly empty, probably because it was a Sunday morning. I dropped my bag at my desk and headed to the meeting room.

Creak.

I opened the door cautiously, half-expecting to find Lee Yung-Jin passed out on the table. Instead, he was still on the phone, looking completely drained. Next to him sat his girlfriend, Do Ran-Hee. Judging from the dark circles under their eyes, they hadn't slept at all and had been answering calls through the night.

"Yes, sir. If you send the details via email, we'll review and get back to you. No, no, we're not ignoring anyone. Our department is just overloaded right now. Yes, I'll try to visit you soon. Okay, take care."

Lee Yung-Jin hung up and slumped into his chair.

"Sigh..."

Do Ran-Hee ended her call too and leaned back with a sigh. "These calls won't stop. Seriously. Mr. Jung... what the heck did he do?"

"Something amazing? At least it's better than having no inquiries."

"Well, sure. But oppa... do you realize I haven't slept in 33 hours?"

"I'm on hour 35."

Just then, both of their phones rang again at the exact same time.

Buzz~

Do Ran-Hee looked like she was about to drop dead. She glared at Lee Yung-Jin. "Yung-Jin oppa. If I die... you're not gonna go date some other girl, right?"

Lee Yung-Jin ignored her and stared at his phone.

"Oppa...?"

Lee Yung-Jin's expression turned awkward. "Huh?"

"You heard me."

"Heard what?"

"I said. If I die, you're not going to go off dating someone else, right?"

Do Ran-Hee smiled sweetly as she spoke. Her forehead was damp with sweat, her bangs curling, and her grin stretching wide across her face.

Lee Yung-Jin shivered. "Don't say that with that smile. It's creepy."

"Then answer me, honey~ unless you want to die right now."

Do Ran-Hee raised her fist, and Lee Yung-Jin swallowed hard. "N-no, I won't. And if you do die, I'll probably follow you anyway, so don't worry. You won't be lonely."

Only then did she beam in satisfaction. "Good. We're dying together. Perfect~"

'Yeah... they'd definitely lost it after pulling an all-nighter. Are they suggesting a double suicide? No, wait. Ran-Hee's always been a bit weird.'

In any case, I stepped fully into the meeting room and tried to calm them down.

"Who said you get to die? You're both chained to me for life. That's enough work for now. Go home and sleep."

'You'll probably only join me in the burial of living with the dead when I go.'

Unaware of my inner thoughts, their faces lit up instantly. "R-really? Can we go?"

"Yeah. And soon, I'll treat you both to some beef. You did great."

That's when Lee Yung-Jin cautiously asked, "Then... what about all the incoming calls?"

No matter how urgent the advertising was, it could never take priority over my team.

"We handled the urgent stuff by email. The rest can wait. It's not like we're the ones who'll miss out, right?"

Only then did Lee Yung-Jin finally breathe a sigh of relief. "What about you, Mr. Jung? What's next?"

"I'm heading to see Mr. Kang first."

Some of the ads did catch my eye, but before I could even think about that, I had another hurdle to face—pushback from the ex-Gwanwoo Entertainment crew inside the company.

Sure enough, the meeting room door burst open and Team Lead Park In-Ki ran in.

"Chief Jung. I'll handle the incoming calls. You need to head up to the seventh-floor executive meeting room."

"Pardon me?"

"Vice President Kim Gwan-Woo heard about the ad offers you received and he's making a fuss."

"Got it."

I reassured Lee Yung-Jin and Do Ran-Hee, who looked like they wanted to come with me, then hurried up to the seventh floor.

***

I arrived at the executive meeting room on the seventh floor.

I quietly opened the door, careful not to make noise. Inside were President Kang Gam-Chan, Finance Director Jung Soo-Hyuk, Vice President Kim Gwan-Woo, Managing Director Kim Jang-Bi, and PR Head Sung Min-Seok.

Kim Gwan-Woo was in the middle of raising his voice. "A talent agent doing ads? That's absolutely unacceptable."

Kang Gam-Chan raised a brow, unimpressed. "Are you seriously this upset over a single commercial?"

"Precedent is everything. You know how common talent agent appearances have become in broadcasts. Once you open the door, talent agents might start steering their celebs toward shady ads for a cut. What if Chief Jung does the same?"

"Chief Jung isn't that kind of person!"

"People change when money's involved. We should establish a no-talent agent-ad policy, just like other agencies."

It was true. Just like Kim Gwan-Woo said, some entertainment agencies had started banning talent agent ad appearances altogether. In recent years, with the rise in variety shows featuring talent agents, ad offers toward them had become more frequent. In some cases, advertisers even used talent agents to push questionable deals on celebrities. That was exactly what ONE_HIT had tried with me.

But Hoop Entertainment had never had that issue before, so no rule existed. Kim Gwan-Woo was trying to use this opportunity to introduce such a restriction.

'He is unbelievable.'

I cleared my throat and spoke up. "Mr. Kim. You don't need to worry. Nothing like that's going to happen."

Kim Gwan-Woo turned sharply. "When discussing matters like this, shouldn't the person in question stay out of it?"

"Honestly, I'm not thrilled about appearing in ads either. I'm not a celebrity. Some people probably find it annoying."

"What? Then you're turning it down?"

"No. I plan to do it this time. With this kind of reaction, showing up helps my actor's career too."

Kim Gwan-Woo's face twisted. "So you're just playing word games to line your own pockets, huh?"

'As expected.'

I shook my head. "I plan to donate the ad fees in full."

"...Donate?"

Kim Gwan-Woo's face turned red and blue in turns. He had just had the rug pulled from under his feet.

I continued, "Yes. Donate. And I don't think it's right to outright reject every proposal from advertisers either."

Kim Gwan-Woo huffed. "Who cares what the advertisers say? If our policy says no, that's it! And donations? Please. Today it's full, next time it'll be 50%, then 30%, and eventually you'll pocket it all!"

Kim Gwan-Woo was being ridiculous now. Kang Gam-Chan looked like he was about to step in when there was a knock on the door.

Knock knock.

Kang Gam-Chan called out softly, "We're in a meeting. Come back later."

However, the door opened anyway. Then Lee Yung-Jin stepped in with his head lowered. "Sorry, sir. The president of Jinseong Foods showed up in person... I couldn't stop him."

"President Jin Sung-Joon is here?"

"Yes. He says he wants Mr. Jung for their ad campaign."

"Really?"

"And... he's not the only one. Executives from LM Apparel, LT Entertainment, and CK Entertainment are also here. What should we do?"

'What perfect timing.'

It was no wonder my white knights hadn't called. They had predicted they wouldn't get through, so they showed up in person on a Sunday to bring their top executives with them.

'So, Vice President... now what?'

I gave Kim Gwan-Woo a slow, satisfied smile.

Kim Gwan-Woo's confident posture from earlier crumbled, and his face flushed with frustration.