Become Overpowered CEO of Hero Clan

Become Overpowered CEO of Hero Clan – 208

Lee Geon-ha’s Rift(5)

“That’s…”

“Actually, the method isn’t important. What matters is that Team Leader Lee Geon-ha knows our company’s dirty secrets.”

It seems he called me in after figuring out the whole situation.

Benjamin, having removed his mask, made a bold proposal to the young man who dared to uncover the company’s secrets and manipulate the division head.

“You have two choices. Either become part of our company family or become our enemy.”

“I’m already working hard. What seems to be the problem?”

As the other side dropped their pretense first, Lee Geon-ha also stopped acting polite.

The opponent was likely a veteran CEO who hadn’t hesitated to engage in all sorts of illegal activities to survive in the fierce competitive market.

Benjamin’s appearance, fully localized to the point of casually using the term ‘family,’ was the very embodiment of discomfort.

How on earth did the Isaac of this timeline end up like that?

“I don’t think the clever Team Leader Lee misunderstood my words. To be honest, I like you. Should I say I sense a kindred spirit?”

“I’m touched. To think someone like you, CEO, would consider me a kindred spirit. But tell me, if I choose to become your enemy, what exactly would happen to me?”

“That… I’ll leave to your imagination.”

Grin.

As the CEO with Isaac’s face flashed a chilling smile, Lee Geon-ha, who had been trying to maintain his composure, felt a chill run down his spine.

Rather than being scared of the threat, he was overwhelmed by the uncanny feeling of seeing himself forcing a smile in the mirror.

‘This is totally a foregone conclusion.’

In any case, the CEO’s words implied that he would hire money-crazed elite lawyers to socially destroy him.

No matter how skilled Lee Geon-ha was at slander, if he were to engage in a legal battle against a massive corporation, his quality of life would drastically deteriorate.

‘If that doesn’t work, I’ll probably end up in a drum barrel.’

Judging by the CEO’s brazen threats, it wouldn’t be surprising if he called in some muscle if things went south.

Based on the survival strategy of choosing one’s battles wisely, Team Leader Lee Geon-ha reluctantly lowered his tail.

“I never intended to expose anything to the media. I’ll diligently handle whatever tasks you assign me from now on.”

“You’ve made a wise decision. I’m also very pleased to have found talent like you. Let’s have a drink.”

And so, the peculiar drinking session between Isaac and Lee Geon-ha concluded with a sort of sworn alliance.

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* * *

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Summer, with its lush greenery.

From the dinner with the CEO, office worker Lee Geon-ha’s life also reached a new turning point.

Every time he solved business challenges with his exceptional mind, his personal assets grew substantially.

A large sedan provided as a company car.

A 30-pyeong apartment located in the heart of Seoul.

An annual salary well over 100 million won.

A corporate card that covered all meal and entertainment expenses.

The achievements he had made at the young age of just thirty could be said to have reached the level of a self-made success story without exaggeration.

Having started with unremarkable qualifications after graduating from a provincial four-year university, wasn’t he now living a life comparable to the upper class?

With such luxuries for a young man, rumors that Team Leader Lee Geon-ha had the support of the headquarters were rampant within the company.

“Um… Team Leader.”

For Manager Cha Hyun-seon, who was working hard under the management team, it was quite exhausting trying to gauge where this young power player ranked within the company hierarchy.

“Yes. What is it?”

“Regarding the four people you mentioned, I was told to report to you first, Team Leader.”

“What about them?”

“It’s about rewriting the contracts.”

“The contracts? What’s the problem?”

“Take a look. Some trainees have raised objections to the profit distribution clause.”

The issue of unfair contracts for idol trainees. It was an extremely sensitive matter.

It was strange that young aspirants dreaming of debut could dare to raise objections at the trainee stage, but then again, these kids were no ordinary talents.

“They’re saying that the clause is unfair, and the kids even got legal consultation.”

“This is troublesome.”

Lee Geon-ha, letting out a slight sigh, immediately focused his gaze on the text marked in red.

|Profit distribution is as follows.

① Revenue [Party A’s ratio: 70%][Party B’s ratio: 30%]

② Expenses [Party A’s ratio: 50%][Party B’s ratio: 50%]

A 7:3 revenue ratio and expenses split equally.

While the balance between revenue and expenses was off, considering the circumstances of a new entertainment company, it was hard to see this as an unfair contract issue.

However, looking closely at what’s below.

|The final profit calculation method is as follows.

Party B receives the amount after deducting ② expenses from ① revenue.

The final profit calculation formula was indeed designed to favor the company, ‘Party A’.

At first glance, sharing the expenses equally seemed reasonable, but this formula wasn’t about dividing the total revenue minus expenses in a 7:3 ratio.

First, the revenue is divided 7:3, and then 50% of the expenses are deducted from the 30% share.

If there’s 1 billion won in sales and 700 million won in expenses, after deducting 350 million (50% of 700 million) from the 300 million settlement amount, the artist would end up 50 million won in debt.

Conversely, the company would take 70% of the 1 billion, which is 700 million, subtract 350 million (50% of expenses), and end up with a net profit of 350 million won.

‘The calculation method is certainly unreasonable.’

Just by changing the order of expense deduction, they could avoid being called out for unfair contracts by legal professionals.

While naive trainees might have fallen victim to a slave contract, didn’t they say these individuals detected the unfair clause early on with their own capabilities?

“What should we do? I hear Seo Eun-ha is leading this, and they’re on the verge of filing a class action lawsuit over this issue.”

A class action lawsuit by idol trainees.

The courage to take legal action against the very entity that decides their debut was possible because the instigator of this issue was none other than Seo Eun-ha.

Just as Hero Seo Eun-ha’s family background was solid, Trainee Seo Eun-ha’s family circumstances were also far from ordinary.

To make matters worse, she inherited the rebellious spirit that resists injustice, bringing this world’s Seo Eun-ha to the brink of a sensitive conflict.

“Seo Eun-ha’s family happens to be in the legal profession. It seems she’s acting recklessly, trusting in her family.”

The trainees who raised objections included Seo Eun-ha, Gil-seong, Yeo Jin-soo, and Hwang Man-deuk, among the 10 candidates for celebrity debut.

Responding to this emergency situation that could jeopardize his luxurious lifestyle, Team Leader Lee Geon-ha decided to step in personally.

“I’ll talk to them.”

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* * *

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For several months.

More precisely, ever since meeting trainees who looked exactly like the members, Lee Geon-ha had been enveloped in a strange sense of discomfort.

The situation of facing game hero characters as trainees and managers was undoubtedly unrealistic, but the source of the discomfort couldn’t be attributed solely to that.

“You’re going to help?”

“You said you were going to call a lawyer. Do you realize how dangerous this action was? The rumors could have spread widely, and you might have lost any chance of debuting.”

As the saying goes, charity begins at home.

Under the authority of Management Team Leader Lee Geon-ha, the debut of the four-member group, including the demanding trainee Seo Eun-ha, was all but decided.

Despite receiving a cold first impression score, the relationship between the manager and the prospective artists continued to improve.

Among the trainees, Management Team Leader Lee Geon-ha’s image was updated daily, recently being re-evaluated as something like a ‘reliable tall uncle’.

It seems he had successfully achieved a favorable impression with the four-member group, both in the game and in reality.

‘Sometimes they look at me strangely.’

However, that wasn’t entirely a good thing.

The cat-like beauty with sparkling eyes had been staring intently at his face for a while now. How could one born male not feel any stirring when faced with the figure of a beautiful woman?

‘Is she really hiding something?’

In any case, Seo Eun-ha’s current eccentric behavior was another source of the discomfort.

Although he had treated them well for a while, wouldn’t it be normal for ordinary trainees to be intimidated by an authority figure from the agency?

“I’ve been curious for a while. Why do you keep staring like that?”

“You remind me of someone. You’re clearly a different person, but for some reason, it feels that way.”

“If that person happens to be an ex-boyfriend or something, don’t mention it to anyone else. There’s no industry where past history can trip up your life as much as this one.”

“What are you talking about? It’s not like that.”

Thump. Thump. Thump.

She responded calmly, but her heart rate was skyrocketing.

It was because Management Team Leader Lee Geon-ha’s brain, which had defined the four trainees as beings from a different timeline, was plunged into confusion.

‘No. Let’s shake it off. There’s no need to think about it so complicatedly.’

He just needed to focus on his current life. Enjoying economic prosperity, envisioning peaceful days, and someday forming a happy family with at least two children – a life that’s ordinary if anything.

These were the futures that Lee Geon-ha should pursue.

Having managed to endure the extreme discomfort, he quickly regained his poker face.

“I’ll talk to the CEO about the settlement clause as it is. I’m sorry. Being new to this, I missed some of the details.”

“What do you think of the CEO, Team Leader?”

Seo Eun-ha’s eyes were still shining brightly as she suddenly asked a question that deviated from the subject.

At this, Lee Geon-ha’s brain was about to indulge in science fiction-like fantasies, but he quickly collected himself and answered quietly.

“He’s an excellent person. He recognizes and acknowledges my abilities. It’s not easy to put an employee with insufficient academic background and experience in a team leader position.”

“Is that all?”

“You’ve been talking nonsense for a while now. Enough, from now on, make sure to tell me before causing any trouble. This shouldn’t have gotten this far. Don’t you want to debut?”

“I’ll be careful.”

After mildly scolding Seo Eun-ha, the instigator of the commotion, Lee Geon-ha returned to his seat and neatly organized the renewal clause of the contract.

As it happened, CEO Benjamin had just returned from the United States. Bypassing the director suffering from lame duck syndrome, he headed straight to the CEO’s office.

“CEO, do you have a moment? I have an urgent matter to discuss.”

“Oh, Team Leader Lee. Sit down.”

Management Team Leader Lee Geon-ha concisely reported the unfair contract issue and prepared solutions to assist CEO Benjamin’s decision-making process.

Although the CEO’s brow furrowed, that is.

“Team Leader Lee Geon-ha. Did you judge that we should comply with the trainees’ one-sided demands?”

“I’m afraid so. There have been similar cases where artists won in court. Some major entertainment companies don’t even have cost clauses.”

It’s a natural flow in the capitalist market for high-quality talent to flock to large entertainment companies with favorable contract terms.

Given that the parent company CultureBricks aims to create a globally recognized idol group, if there were issues with the contract clauses set at the beginning of the business, they should be readjusted to align with this direction.

“I’m disappointed? I didn’t think the management team leader would be unaware of how things work.”

“I don’t think a slight adjustment to the settlement method would hinder the positive effects of the capital increase. Just hearing the title that Director Kim Mi-joo is overseeing the debut of a 5th generation girl group will attract quite a lot of attention.”

The ulterior motive of the black-hearted CEO Benjamin was to misappropriate 8.65% of the stocks of ‘Innovation Core Media Co., Ltd.’ transferred to a borrowed-name account.

Furthermore, his second goal was to transfer the convertible bonds of his own company issued to a recently invested company called ‘MegaOgen’ to a borrowed-name account at a low price.

Although actions violating the Capital Market Act would be rampant in this process, even if this case were to be handed over to the prosecution, isn’t it obvious that the punishment for economic criminals would be at a slap-on-the-wrist level?

After all, in a market where capitalists who know how to accumulate vast assets by using cunning tactics have no reason not to fleece the small investors thoroughly.

“A big investor is joining this time. He’s a picky one, so we can’t create unnecessary problems. If Team Leader Lee can stall for two months, I’ll take care of the rest.”

“Are you saying to rewrite the contract in two months?”

“As you know, the rigid legal team is not one of us. They’re also the ones who created the internal regulation that contracts with artists must be disclosed.”

“I understand what you mean.”

In summary, it was about making a big score and running away with it. He was telling him not to give the legal team, which could interfere with that, any room to step in.

Whether the idol group debuts or not, the current CEO Benjamin’s only interest would be in rapidly boosting the company’s stock price.

‘This bastard. He’s planning to throw me under the bus.’

Just as he had made the director a puppet, he had been accumulating evidence of CEO Benjamin’s wrongdoings as well.

It seemed that guy was preparing to set up someone else as the main culprit of the economic crime, knowingly or unknowingly.

Who else could be the target but Team Leader Lee Geon-ha, whom he referred to as ‘one of us’?

“If this goes well, you’ll be sitting in this chair. Let’s do our best.”

“Are you serious?”

“Do I look like someone with pathological lying?”

“I’ll do my best to assist you, CEO!”

Towards CEO Benjamin, who was making hasty promises while they both had knives behind their backs, Lee Geon-ha, who had grown into a proper adult tiger, showed a bright smile.

‘I’ll take him down before he can get me.’