* * *
He had doubts.
“Do you mean old weapons made 60 years ago are still being used in 2082?”
[There are quite a few cases where weapons produced 60 years ago are still used. I found data on the internet that canteens from the Normandy landing were used by the Korean military until recently.]
“When you put it that way, it makes sense. So, Iron Gear Engineering’s equipment is similar?”
[Iron Gear Engineering’s products are different from the Normandy canteens.]
“How?”
[Despite being outdated equipment, it is used as the main equipment in some battlefields where supply conditions are not good. Unused products are traded at high prices among collectors.]
“The bottom line is that Iron Gear Engineering is a company that makes high-quality military equipment that is still used 60 years later. To achieve this 60 years from now, it can’t just be that the equipment is high quality. There must have been a lot produced in the first place.”
pThat is a reasonable assumption.[
“Because the company is so successful, they can solve a film production budget of over 10 billion won in one go.”
A vertical wrinkle formed between Na Kang-In’s eyebrows.
“But there hasn’t been any equipment produced by this highly successful company since 2022? Did it suddenly go bankrupt this year?”
[The initial data I have only contains information on Iron Gear Engineering’s weapons and equipment. I don’t know what happened to the company.]
“If the company suddenly went bankrupt this year.”
Na Kang-In glanced towards the private room where people were gathered. The reason for a sudden bankruptcy might be in there.
***
Na Kang-In took a seat.
Lee Tae-ho asked.
“You don’t look too well. Is something wrong…?”
“It’s not about me, it’s about CEO Lee having a problem.”
“Pardon?”
“If our film fails, CEO Lee’s shares in Iron Gear Engineering will be wiped out, and then your father’s company’s management rights will be at risk, won’t they?”
Lee Tae-ho laughed.
“That’s only if I lose my shares. If I tell my father, I might get kicked out, but the issue of the company shares would be resolved somehow.”
Na Kang-In shook his head.
“The situation is not that simple right now.”
Na Kang-In brought up a story he had been suspecting for a long time.
“On the first day of reshooting in Gangwon-do, the set collapsed. Someone might have tampered with the facility. There were unnatural parts.”
CEO Lee Tae-ho of THO Entertainment had also heard the story.
“Because you mentioned it, the police conducted a detailed forensic investigation at the site. Some debris was sent to the National Forensic Service, and I heard they are still analyzing it.”
The debris was also analyzed by AI Zijin.
“The National Forensic Service’s analysis will likely conclude like this: ‘There is a possibility that someone tampered with it, but there is no definitive evidence.'”
“Pardon?”
“Then what are the next steps?”
Lee Tae-ho thought for a moment before responding.
“Since no one was injured and the set had to be demolished anyway, it would be difficult to initiate a full-scale investigation just because it collapsed.”
Na Kang-In mentioned another incident.
“A week ago, an actor from our film was arrested at a drug party. Doesn’t that seem odd to you?”
There was also a report about that incident written by Lee Tae-ho’s company employees.
Lee Tae-ho responded.
“The police found out about that drug party while investigating an arson-murderer in Seoul, didn’t they? What does that incident have to do with our film? The arson-murder case is completely unrelated.”
Na Kang-In went to the police station and helped them create a composite sketch of the arson-murderer. Thanks to this, the police quickly apprehended the culprit and were able to raid the drug party site.
Without Na Kang-In’s help, the culprit would have been caught later, and the police wouldn’t have been able to raid the drug party.
Na Kang-In said.
“That’s correct. The arson-murder case was an unforeseen incident not planned by anyone.”
“Pardon? Planned? Unforeseen incident?”
“Because the police raided the drug party then, THO Entertainment had to reshoot the film within a week.”
The drug party incident occurred a week before the film’s release date.
THO Entertainment and Son Tae-min decided to reshoot immediately that day.
Na Kang-In initially thought the culprit was caught too quickly, causing a problem for the film’s release. So, he actively helped with the film shooting.
As a result, the film turned out to be a more impressive work than originally planned.
Na Kang-In said.
“But if the drug party incident had occurred not a week before but right before the film’s release, say the day before, what would have happened?”
Lee Tae-ho’s expression hardened. In such a situation, there would be no time to reshoot the film.
“Oh….”
Na Kang-In asked more specifically.
“If someone had deliberately waited until right before the film’s release to report the drug party to the police, what would the outcome have been?”
Lee Tae-ho’s expression became more serious. He now fully understood what Na Kang-In was implying.
“Our film wouldn’t have even made it to theaters. Or it would have been taken down immediately after being screened.”
An excellent commander prepares an escape route when the battle becomes unfavorable. Lee Tae-ho also had an escape route.
Na Kang-In asked.
“Your fallback plan if the film failed was to ask your father for help, wasn’t it?”
“That’s right. My father would lend me money to protect the shares.”
But if the enemy is lying in ambush on that escape route, the retreating forces could be annihilated.
“If this situation was orchestrated by someone, the moment the film fails, something would happen to your father’s company as well. They would create a crisis that would make it difficult for Iron Gear Engineering to assist your film company.”
Lee Tae-ho drank a glass of cold water instead of the liquor in front of him.
“Even in such a case, if I mobilize all my connections, I can transfer our company to someone else and still protect my father’s company shares.”
Na Kang-In added the final piece.
“But if Min-ji had been kidnapped at the Gangwon-do set that day, would you have been able to focus on the shares?”
Lee Tae-ho’s face turned pale in an instant.
If the film, in which more than 10 billion won was invested directly, failed to even make it to theaters and the CEO’s daughter was kidnapped, the film company could collapse immediately.
If the debts were complicatedly entangled, Lee Tae-ho’s shares in Iron Gear Engineering, held as collateral, could disappear in an instant.
Lee Tae-ho’s voice trembled.
“Th-Then the reason they tried to kidnap Min-ji is…”
“If CEO Lee loses his mind, it becomes easier to target shares of Iron Gear Corporation.”
“But, me going to the set in Gangwon-do Province that day wasn’t planned. Originally, I was at my daughter’s photoshoot…”
“Let’s go back to the beginning. On the first day of the reshoot, the set collapsed. Aren’t you going to check the site?”
“Y-Yes, of course.”
“The person who collapsed the set knew CEO Lee would bring Min-ji there that day. It was all designed to happen that way.”
Lee Tae-ho was at a loss for words.
Shin Eun-ha asked excitedly, “What? So there’s someone targeting me who caused the set to collapse?”
“At first, I thought they were targeting you, but it might not be. Whether you or Yoo-chan got hurt, the effect would be the same.”
Kim Yoo-chan held his arm.
“But why me, just standing around…?”
“If no one got hurt on set, it would have been easier to kidnap Min-ji. They planned it so it wouldn’t fail in any scenario.”
If Na Kang-In hadn’t been there that day, an actor might have been injured, halting the filming, or Lee Min-ji might have been kidnapped. Both could have happened simultaneously.
Shin Eun-ha asked angrily, “Investigate those kidnappers and we’ll find out who orchestrated this dirty plot!”
Na Kang-In shook his head.
“They wouldn’t have handled it so sloppily.”
* * *
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