Ch. 12 · I Became a Secret Millionaire Landlord Overnight, So I Was Planning to Just Slack Off and Take It Easy at Work, But Why Are All the Top Stars Obsessed With Me?!

It's actually not that uncommon for outside investors to back projects run by entertainment agencies.

This is known as project financing, where profits are shared with the investors.

Of course, these investments usually only happen with top stars.

For rookies, securing outside investment was out of the question unless they were a highly anticipated prospect shaking up the industry.

It made sense.

Why would anyone trust and invest in a rookie?

"…BH Investment?"

The head director looked startled.

As expected of someone at his level, he caught on immediately—BH was the owner of this building!

Most people own buildings through a corporation for tax and loan purposes, and I was no exception.

"…How do you know the new chairman of BH?"

"We happened to cross paths by chance."

"By chance?"

Among the special conditions my father had set, there was one regarding confidentiality.

It couldn't be helped if it was accidentally revealed that I was the building owner, but I wasn't supposed to actively boast about it first.

He said this was not just to maintain a normal social life, but to prevent all kinds of flies from trying to latch onto me if word got out that I owned the building.

For reference, BH's CEO was registered under someone else's name—a manager on my payroll—so even if anyone pulled the paperwork, I wouldn't be exposed.

However, the head director said something unexpected.

"…You didn't do anything rude to the chairman, did you?"

"Pardon?"

"Rumor has it that the new chairman of BH is no ordinary person. What if you accidentally offended them?"

The only one being rude here is you, punk.

Without having a clue about the disrespect he had already shown the "chairman," the punk continued with a dead-serious look on his face.

"The company is already worried because the contract renewal period is coming up soon. What if they raise the rent exorbitantly because of you? Or worse, tell us to vacate the building entirely?"

I realized an important fact from those words.

Hmm… Is the rent Star Entertainment pays right now too cheap?

Looking at the head director's attitude, it seemed so!

Then again, there are barely any buildings of this size in this location. And an entertainment company, where appearances are everything, can't just move anywhere.

Since Star Entertainment didn't have the money to build its own headquarters, leaving this building meant they would have to move to a worse location.

But there was no way a company that valued outward appearances as much as Star Entertainment would allow that.

I should raise the rent as much as possible during the contract renewal!

Since I knew the other party's desperate weakness, utilizing it in negotiations was the smart business move.

That wasn't all.

"You don't need to worry about that. There's no way he felt offended by me. However, I can't say the same for what happens in the future."

"…What do you mean by that?"

"If the chairman personally invests in the singer, Sena Lee, but Star Entertainment works half-heartedly, wouldn't that offend him instead?"

"!!!"

Outside investors provide the money, and the agency does the work.

Of course, in this case, I would be the one investing and working, but I couldn't do everything alone.

I need to dump as much grunt work onto the company as possible.

It was a warning to work as hard as possible.

And there was more.

"I think it would be best to set the profit distribution as favorably for BH as possible. If the BH chairman gets offended over a little chump change, that could cause an even greater loss for the company."

If you offend me, I'll jack up the rent!

...Of course, I planned on jacking up the rent even if they didn't offend me!

The head director let out a groan.

"…Did the chairman set any conditions?"

I replied without a moment's hesitation.

"The neighboring rights for Sena Lee's debut song."

* * *

In the case of a song, the composer, lyricist, and arranger hold those rights.

Then, what rights does the company hold?

They are called neighboring rights.

70%.

That was the percentage of the neighboring rights allocated to BH—or rather, to me.

Even accounting for how much I'd invested, it was an absurdly lopsided profit split in my favor.

Since Sena's cut has to come out of the company's remaining share, Star Entertainment will barely make a dime off this song.

Well, I didn't think it was excessive.

In reality, I was the one providing all the money needed to produce the song, and I was basically sourcing the tracks and directing everything myself!

But for some reason, Sena glared at me while gritting her teeth.

"Why… did you do that?"

"???"

"I heard what happened. You secured the investment for me from that terrifying chairman… by putting your neck on the line!"

Hmm…?

It seemed like strange rumors were circulating within the company due to this matter.

"They said if this project fails, that scary chairman won't leave you alone, manager! Why would you do such a thing?!"

…I didn't do it because of you, though? I did it for the love of money.

[Love's Shuttle Bus]

Type: Semi-Trot

Rank: A ⇨ S (depending on arrangement)

Verdict: Moderate ⇨ Mega-Hit (depending on arrangement results)

A big hit was more than enough to recoup my investment.

But what about a mega-hit?

It would make an astronomical amount of money, making an investment of a few tens of millions of won look like absolute chump change.

Especially with trot, once it becomes a hit, people listen to it over and over again until they're sick of it. It'll keep bringing in revenue like a pension.

And that wasn't all.

On top of the neighboring rights, I'd also negotiated a cut of the profits from Sena's promotional activities. There was no telling just how much I'd end up pulling in from this investment.

I'm already rich, but the more money, the better.

"Don't misunderstand. I didn't do this for you, Sena. I did it for myself."

"…You did it for yourself, manager?"

"Yes. Your success is what's best for me."

"!!!"

Sena gasped.

Then she spoke in a trembling voice.

"Why would you go that far for me…"

Uh-oh.

It seemed my words had left some room for misunderstanding.

"It's not like that. I'm just certain of your success."

"Of my success…?"

"Yes, I believe you will definitely succeed."

Because 'Appraise' explicitly told me so.

But—

"How could you…"

"???"

Sena's eyes welled with tears, and she bit her lower lip tightly.

Then, she spoke with a resolute voice.

"Thank you. I'll do my absolute best to repay your trust, manager."

"What…? There's no need to go that far."

"It's fine. I completely understand your feelings, so you don't have to say anything more."

"Miss Sena…?"

"I'm going to go practice. Since you trust and care for me that much, I can't afford to show you an embarrassing performance!"

With a spin, Sena disappeared, leaving me with a dumbfounded expression.

"…Yeah, I should just get to work."

* * *

The reason Star Entertainment agreed to hand over as much as 70% of the neighboring rights to BH wasn't solely because they were being mindful of the "chairman."

They probably thought the odds of the song succeeding were extremely low.

It made sense.

The trot market was already notoriously brutal to break into, and now they were risking it all on a rookie singer and an amateur composer's song.

"Isn't Manager Lim going a bit overboard?"

"Did he lose his mind just because he pulled off one big hit with Actress Hyunah Lim?"

While on the rooftop, I could hear other teams smoking and badmouthing me.

I should have the rooftop CCTV checked and report them all for violating the building's non-smoking policy.

Those guys had a bone to pick with me ever since my days as Ina Kim's manager, but they weren't the only ones who felt this way.

It wasn't just the head director—everyone expected it to fail.

So naturally, securing an arranger proved to be an uphill battle.

The more successful an arranger is, the less they want to take on a mediocre song. Especially if the composer is an amateur.

"W-what should we do?"

"As expected… It's my fault for not being good enough."

Sena and Janggu Player looked dejected, but I shook my head.

"It's fine. In fact, this is good news for us."

"Good news…?"

"Yes, because now we can look for the perfect arranger for the song."

It was true that successful arrangers were usually talented. But just because someone had skills didn't mean they were guaranteed to do justice to Sena's debut song, 'Love's Shuttle Bus.'

After all, even arrangers have varying degrees of compatibility with songs.

[Siu]

Type: Arranger

Rank: A

Compatibility With Song (Love's Shuttle Bus): B

Verdict: Moderate Hit

Like this.

I needed to find an arranger who was both highly skilled and perfectly compatible with the song.

Fortunately, there was an arranger whose skill was at least A-rank and whose compatibility with the song was S-rank.

There was just one problem.

"You're going to entrust the song to an amateur arranger…?"

Director Song tried to dissuade me with a shocked expression.

It made sense.

The song itself was by an amateur composer, and now I wanted to hand the arrangement over to an amateur as well!

"No, Manager Lim. Have you completely lost it? No matter how hard it is to find a proper arranger—an amateur? I'm currently in talks with Arranger Joe, so just give it a little time!"

I shook my head.

[Joe]

Type: Arranger

Rank: C

Compatibility: C

Verdict: Average

He was a hack who would ruin a song capable of becoming a mega-hit and turn it into something completely mediocre.

"I wouldn't take a piece of trash like him even if he were handed to me for free… Ah, I mean, it's fine. I'll handle it on my own."

"Then… I'll leave everything to you, manager."

"I-I will trust you too, manager!"

And so, I contacted Petit Prince, the amateur arranger with S-rank compatibility.

* * *

Petit Prince was someone who had left a comment on the composers' community forum, and peculiarly, his true identity was an idol.

I hadn't known what kind of idol he was until I met him in person.

He is from Rainbow?!

[Karmin (Petit Prince)]

Type: Idol (Lead Dancer, Leader)

Rank: S+

Potential: S+

[Special Note: Secretly studying song arrangement behind his agency's back.]

He wasn't just S-rank, he was a whopping S+!

Both his current rank and potential!

Honestly, it was a fitting evaluation.

Rainbow was a top-tier boy band from one of the Big Three agencies, completely dominating the K-pop scene.

Why is a lead dancer studying arrangement? Ah, is that why he's keeping it a secret?

Rainbow already had a famous producer in the group—Marin, the main rapper and a genius composer.

Since their member concepts would overlap, it made sense that Karmin was being cautious.

"That person… looks dangerous. Are you… sure about this?"

Karmin showed up wearing a balaclava—the kind bank robbers or movie terrorists wear to cover their whole face.

On top of that, he was wearing sunglasses to hide his eyes.

Now that I knew who he was, the disguise made sense—but he still looked incredibly suspicious.

Thinking that we needed to have a candid conversation, I had Sena and Janggu Player step out.

"This is a separate practice room I rented, so no one is watching. You can make yourself comfortable, Karmin."

"!!!"

Karmin flinched and pulled off his terrorist mask.

"How did you know? Did you perhaps recognize me by my voice or my build?"

"No? Maybe if it were Marin or Sol… But you're just not that famous, even within Rainbow, Karmin."

Karmin's face flushed red.

Just because a group was popular didn't mean all its members enjoyed the same level of fame. Unless you were a hardcore fan, there were plenty of members you wouldn't even know existed.

In particular, a lead dancer was a role that easily got overshadowed.

In any case, it wasn't like I said this just because becoming a landlord had completely ruined my social skills.

"I'm sorry if you were offended. Personally, I just felt bad for you, Karmin."

"…You felt bad for me?"

"As the leader and lead dancer, you always take on the role of making compromises and sacrifices for the group. The reason you rejected the arrangement offer this time was also because you were worried it might cause trouble for the group, right?"

"!!!"

That was right.

Karmin hadn't accepted the arrangement offer—he had rejected it!

Well, it made sense.

There were many issues at stake, such as the concept clash within the group and the fact that it was a song for another company.

Still, I have to make him take it no matter what.

[Karmin (Petit Prince)]

Compatibility: S

Verdict: Mega-Hit

The result was far too sweet to give up over a 'minor circumstance.'

"I've always felt it was a shame how you sacrifice yourself like a shadow for the group. If it weren't for your silent sacrifices, neither Marin, Sol, nor Rainbow would be shining as brightly as they are now."

"!!!"

Karmin's eyes wavered.

Looking at him directly, I started working my charm.

"This project won't burden your group at all, Karmin. In fact, it'll actually benefit Rainbow—and more importantly, it'll finally put you in the spotlight."

Get the latest chapter and best reading experience at www.novatls.com

It's actually not that uncommon for outside investors to back projects run by entertainment agencies.

This is known as project financing, where profits are shared with the investors.

Of course, these investments usually only happen with top stars.

For rookies, securing outside investment was out of the question unless they were a highly anticipated prospect shaking up the industry.

It made sense.

Why would anyone trust and invest in a rookie?

"…BH Investment?"

The head director looked startled.

As expected of someone at his level, he caught on immediately—BH was the owner of this building!

Most people own buildings through a corporation for tax and loan purposes, and I was no exception.

"…How do you know the new chairman of BH?"

"We happened to cross paths by chance."

"By chance?"

Among the special conditions my father had set, there was one regarding confidentiality.

It couldn't be helped if it was accidentally revealed that I was the building owner, but I wasn't supposed to actively boast about it first.

He said this was not just to maintain a normal social life, but to prevent all kinds of flies from trying to latch onto me if word got out that I owned the building.

For reference, BH's CEO was registered under someone else's name—a manager on my payroll—so even if anyone pulled the paperwork, I wouldn't be exposed.

However, the head director said something unexpected.

"…You didn't do anything rude to the chairman, did you?"

"Pardon?"

"Rumor has it that the new chairman of BH is no ordinary person. What if you accidentally offended them?"

The only one being rude here is you, punk.

Without having a clue about the disrespect he had already shown the "chairman," the punk continued with a dead-serious look on his face.

"The company is already worried because the contract renewal period is coming up soon. What if they raise the rent exorbitantly because of you? Or worse, tell us to vacate the building entirely?"

I realized an important fact from those words.

Hmm… Is the rent Star Entertainment pays right now too cheap?

Looking at the head director's attitude, it seemed so!

Then again, there are barely any buildings of this size in this location. And an entertainment company, where appearances are everything, can't just move anywhere.

Since Star Entertainment didn't have the money to build its own headquarters, leaving this building meant they would have to move to a worse location.

But there was no way a company that valued outward appearances as much as Star Entertainment would allow that.

I should raise the rent as much as possible during the contract renewal!

Since I knew the other party's desperate weakness, utilizing it in negotiations was the smart business move.

That wasn't all.

"You don't need to worry about that. There's no way he felt offended by me. However, I can't say the same for what happens in the future."

"…What do you mean by that?"

"If the chairman personally invests in the singer, Sena Lee, but Star Entertainment works half-heartedly, wouldn't that offend him instead?"

"!!!"

Outside investors provide the money, and the agency does the work.

Of course, in this case, I would be the one investing and working, but I couldn't do everything alone.

I need to dump as much grunt work onto the company as possible.

It was a warning to work as hard as possible.

And there was more.

If you offend me, I'll jack up the rent!

...Of course, I planned on jacking up the rent even if they didn't offend me!

The head director let out a groan.

"…Did the chairman set any conditions?"

I replied without a moment's hesitation.

"The neighboring rights for Sena Lee's debut song."

* * *

In the case of a song, the composer, lyricist, and arranger hold those rights.

Then, what rights does the company hold?

They are called neighboring rights.

70%.

That was the percentage of the neighboring rights allocated to BH—or rather, to me.

Even accounting for how much I'd invested, it was an absurdly lopsided profit split in my favor.

Since Sena's cut has to come out of the company's remaining share, Star Entertainment will barely make a dime off this song.

Well, I didn't think it was excessive.

In reality, I was the one providing all the money needed to produce the song, and I was basically sourcing the tracks and directing everything myself!

But for some reason, Sena glared at me while gritting her teeth.

"Why… did you do that?"

"???"

"I heard what happened. You secured the investment for me from that terrifying chairman… by putting your neck on the line!"

Hmm…?

It seemed like strange rumors were circulating within the company due to this matter.

"They said if this project fails, that scary chairman won't leave you alone, manager! Why would you do such a thing?!"

…I didn't do it because of you, though? I did it for the love of money.

[Love's Shuttle Bus]

Type: Semi-Trot

Rank: A ⇨ S (depending on arrangement)

Verdict: Moderate ⇨ Mega-Hit (depending on arrangement results)

A big hit was more than enough to recoup my investment.

But what about a mega-hit?

It would make an astronomical amount of money, making an investment of a few tens of millions of won look like absolute chump change.

Especially with trot, once it becomes a hit, people listen to it over and over again until they're sick of it. It'll keep bringing in revenue like a pension.

And that wasn't all.

On top of the neighboring rights, I'd also negotiated a cut of the profits from Sena's promotional activities. There was no telling just how much I'd end up pulling in from this investment.

I'm already rich, but the more money, the better.

"Don't misunderstand. I didn't do this for you, Sena. I did it for myself."

"…You did it for yourself, manager?"

"Yes. Your success is what's best for me."

"!!!"

Sena gasped.

Then she spoke in a trembling voice.

"Why would you go that far for me…"

Uh-oh.

It seemed my words had left some room for misunderstanding.

"It's not like that. I'm just certain of your success."

"Of my success…?"

"Yes, I believe you will definitely succeed."

Because 'Appraise' explicitly told me so.

But—

"How could you…"

"???"

Sena's eyes welled with tears, and she bit her lower lip tightly.

Then, she spoke with a resolute voice.

"Thank you. I'll do my absolute best to repay your trust, manager."

"What…? There's no need to go that far."

"It's fine. I completely understand your feelings, so you don't have to say anything more."

"Miss Sena…?"

"I'm going to go practice. Since you trust and care for me that much, I can't afford to show you an embarrassing performance!"

With a spin, Sena disappeared, leaving me with a dumbfounded expression.

"…Yeah, I should just get to work."

* * *

The reason Star Entertainment agreed to hand over as much as 70% of the neighboring rights to BH wasn't solely because they were being mindful of the "chairman."

They probably thought the odds of the song succeeding were extremely low.

It made sense.

The trot market was already notoriously brutal to break into, and now they were risking it all on a rookie singer and an amateur composer's song.

"Isn't Manager Lim going a bit overboard?"

"Did he lose his mind just because he pulled off one big hit with Actress Hyunah Lim?"

While on the rooftop, I could hear other teams smoking and badmouthing me.

I should have the rooftop CCTV checked and report them all for violating the building's non-smoking policy.

Those guys had a bone to pick with me ever since my days as Ina Kim's manager, but they weren't the only ones who felt this way.

It wasn't just the head director—everyone expected it to fail.

So naturally, securing an arranger proved to be an uphill battle.

The more successful an arranger is, the less they want to take on a mediocre song. Especially if the composer is an amateur.

"W-what should we do?"

"As expected… It's my fault for not being good enough."

Sena and Janggu Player looked dejected, but I shook my head.

"It's fine. In fact, this is good news for us."

"Good news…?"

"Yes, because now we can look for the perfect arranger for the song."

It was true that successful arrangers were usually talented. But just because someone had skills didn't mean they were guaranteed to do justice to Sena's debut song, 'Love's Shuttle Bus.'

After all, even arrangers have varying degrees of compatibility with songs.

[Siu]

Type: Arranger

Rank: A

Compatibility With Song (Love's Shuttle Bus): B

Verdict: Moderate Hit

Like this.

I needed to find an arranger who was both highly skilled and perfectly compatible with the song.

Fortunately, there was an arranger whose skill was at least A-rank and whose compatibility with the song was S-rank.

There was just one problem.

"You're going to entrust the song to an amateur arranger…?"

Director Song tried to dissuade me with a shocked expression.

It made sense.

The song itself was by an amateur composer, and now I wanted to hand the arrangement over to an amateur as well!

"No, Manager Lim. Have you completely lost it? No matter how hard it is to find a proper arranger—an amateur? I'm currently in talks with Arranger Joe, so just give it a little time!"

I shook my head.

[Joe]

Type: Arranger

Rank: C

Compatibility: C

Verdict: Average

He was a hack who would ruin a song capable of becoming a mega-hit and turn it into something completely mediocre.

"I wouldn't take a piece of trash like him even if he were handed to me for free… Ah, I mean, it's fine. I'll handle it on my own."

"Then… I'll leave everything to you, manager."

"I-I will trust you too, manager!"

And so, I contacted Petit Prince, the amateur arranger with S-rank compatibility.

* * *

Petit Prince was someone who had left a comment on the composers' community forum, and peculiarly, his true identity was an idol.

I hadn't known what kind of idol he was until I met him in person.

He is from Rainbow?!

[Karmin (Petit Prince)]

Type: Idol (Lead Dancer, Leader)

Rank: S+

Potential: S+

[Special Note: Secretly studying song arrangement behind his agency's back.]

He wasn't just S-rank, he was a whopping S+!

Both his current rank and potential!

Honestly, it was a fitting evaluation.

Rainbow was a top-tier boy band from one of the Big Three agencies, completely dominating the K-pop scene.

Why is a lead dancer studying arrangement? Ah, is that why he's keeping it a secret?

Rainbow already had a famous producer in the group—Marin, the main rapper and a genius composer.

Since their member concepts would overlap, it made sense that Karmin was being cautious.

"That person… looks dangerous. Are you… sure about this?"

Karmin showed up wearing a balaclava—the kind bank robbers or movie terrorists wear to cover their whole face.

On top of that, he was wearing sunglasses to hide his eyes.

Now that I knew who he was, the disguise made sense—but he still looked incredibly suspicious.

Thinking that we needed to have a candid conversation, I had Sena and Janggu Player step out.

"This is a separate practice room I rented, so no one is watching. You can make yourself comfortable, Karmin."

"!!!"

Karmin flinched and pulled off his terrorist mask.

"How did you know? Did you perhaps recognize me by my voice or my build?"

"No? Maybe if it were Marin or Sol… But you're just not that famous, even within Rainbow, Karmin."

Karmin's face flushed red.

Just because a group was popular didn't mean all its members enjoyed the same level of fame. Unless you were a hardcore fan, there were plenty of members you wouldn't even know existed.

In particular, a lead dancer was a role that easily got overshadowed.

In any case, it wasn't like I said this just because becoming a landlord had completely ruined my social skills.

"I'm sorry if you were offended. Personally, I just felt bad for you, Karmin."

"…You felt bad for me?"

"!!!"

That was right.

Karmin hadn't accepted the arrangement offer—he had rejected it!

Well, it made sense.

There were many issues at stake, such as the concept clash within the group and the fact that it was a song for another company.

Still, I have to make him take it no matter what.

[Karmin (Petit Prince)]

Compatibility: S

Verdict: Mega-Hit

The result was far too sweet to give up over a 'minor circumstance.'

"!!!"

Karmin's eyes wavered.

Looking at him directly, I started working my charm.

"This project won't burden your group at all, Karmin. In fact, it'll actually benefit Rainbow—and more importantly, it'll finally put you in the spotlight."

Get the latest chapter and best reading experience at www.novatls.com

Chapter 12

Comments

Chapter 12

Comments