“How much do you have in mind?” asked Kyungsu.

“Please increase the cash prize for the top team to 20 million won. And then decrease the ratio of cash prizes down to eight million won for the team ranked 30th.”

Kyungsu’s eyes opened wide.

“That’s double the cash prize the previous month. That means the total cash prizes amount to 400 million won per month. Don’t you think it’s too much?”

“Not a problem. We’re making a lot of money, as you know.”

That was true. Given the tremendous revenue Ani & Funny was raking in, 400 million won was far from a financial burden.

Besides, some of the new series including ‘Iron Worm’ produced by the students were also generating revenue already. Some companies signed contracts to use the design and advertising companies contacted Ani & Funny for contracts.

In other words, these companies were trying to occupy the market in advance. They had trust in Ani & Funny, so when they saw the mere sign of its works hitting gold, they were anxious to dominate the relevant markets ahead of other rival companies.

Hyunwoo felt that the successful contracts with them would generate a lot more revenue than the cash prizes paid to the students. So, he wanted to pay more to them to increase their motivation and morale.

In fact, the size of the cash prizes was not that big because the cash would be divided evenly among the team members.

Of course, the leader of the team would get more than his members, but not as much as they thought. For he might lose his members to another team if he was too greedy.

“What about the remaining 12 teams that failed to get in?”

“No cash prizes for them. They are receiving 800,000 won every month. If they want to get the cash prize, tell them to work harder to get ranked as one of the top 30 teams.”

Kyungsu giggled at his words. It seemed that the students would want to burn the midnight oil to get in the list of the top 30 teams for the cash prize.

In the meantime, Hyunwoo’s cell phone buzzed pleasantly.

It was a call from Jaeyun Hong, the team manager with Story Mecca in charge of creating a new website devoted to animated movies.

Hyunwoo answered the phone gladly.

“Finally, I am done with the new website, Animoon. I tried it several times and found no errors whatsoever. I think we can open it anytime.”

Hyunwoo was all smiled.

There was a big delay in opening the site. Originally, it should have opened four months ago and should be up and running by now.

But only now did Jaeyun fix all the errors.

“Phew. Thanks a lot for your hard work, Jaeyun.”

“You’re welcome. Our job in this field is to find errors and fix them.”

“By the way, are you going to open the new website as scheduled?”

“No, I have delayed it for another two months.”

“Why? What’s the matter?” said Jaeyun with a surprised look.

With a hearty laugh, Hyunwoo told him about a feature program about Ani & Funny that he originally proposed to Seoul Broadcasting.

Jaeyun was also aware of that because Kwangsu, the representative of Real Film, had come to him to videotape the creating process of the Animoon website in connection with the featured program.

“Hearing what you said, I think you had better delay it then. By the way, am I included in the program? They videotaped me working on the website several times.”

“Of course, hahaha.”

“Really? It looks like my kids will like it very much. If you know the air time of the program, please let me know. I’m going to watch it with my family.”

“Sure, will do.”

Hyunwoo then called Kwangsu.

“Brother, are you still working on the featured program?”

“I am done with shooting most of the content, but find it rather hard to edit them. I think I need more time to make the picture more organized.”

“I’m sure you videotaped interviews with the students, right?”

“Of course. They are the cream of the program.”

“Who did you interview?”

Kwangsu checked out his notebook and called several names.

As Hyunwoo expected, they were mostly those with personal stories but not chosen for their excellence.

“Please interview some more students,” said Hyunwoo. He gave Kwangsu the names of five students with great potential. Kyungsu and Sanggyu praised them highly, saying they would be “big figures” in the animation field someday.

This time Hyunwoo headed for KOVE DREAM when his phone buzzed.

It was a call from a stranger.

Tilting his head, Hyunwoo picked up the phone.

The other party over the phone cautiously introduced himself.

“I’m Producer Song Lim with the cultural affairs department of Seoul Broadcasting. I’ve got something to tell you by all means. Can you take the time out to see me?”

Hyunwoo made a frown at the word ‘cultural affairs department of Seoul Broadcasting’ because of his bad impressions of Producer Kwon and his boss.

“I don’t have any reason to meet the producers of Seoul Broadcasting.”

“This is an important issue. We called you at the risk of being fired by our company. Please!”

Hyunwoo tiled his head. Producer Song Lim referred to him as ‘we,’ which meant he and several others saw eye to eye to see Hyunwoo.

Hyunwoo was also very curious about his mention of ‘at the risk of being fired.’

“So, why do you want to see me?”

“It’s about Producer Kwon and the director of the cultural affairs department. No matter how important the ratings are, we believe the broadcasting company should be the conscience of the times.”

And then Song briefed Hyunwoo about what he and his colleagues were trying to do.

Suddenly, Hyunwoo recalled what Jaeyol Song with Korean Broadcasting had told him before.

<Just ask any producer with Seoul Broadcasting. You will clearly come to learn about the true colors of Kwon and his boss.>

Initially Hyunwoo thought Jaeyol’s statement was exaggerated a bit, but that was true.

I see. They must be stains on humanity. What the heck are they?

In fact, Hyunwoo didn’t feel it was a good idea for Song and his colleagues to tackle their own problems like this. They had to solve the issue within their own organization, win the mare or lose the halter. It was like inviting an outside enemy to ask for Hyunwoo’s help in order to get rid of their internal enemy.

On the other hand, their actions were understandable.

The broadcasting company was an important place. As it was an organization with immense power, it could influence the society badly if they brandished a knife wrong.

That’s why Song and his colleagues decided to rebel. As they could not achieve their goal on their own, they turned to Hyunwoo.

Hyunwoo thought this might be a good opportunity to take revenge on them.

“Got it. Let’s meet then.”

Song talked about where they would meet.

It was an underground coffee shop, located far away from Seoul Broadcasting.

Hyunwoo headed for that place immediately. He found five producers including Song Lim waiting for him when he got there.

They put on a tense look. As soon as their meeting with Hyunwoo was revealed, they would certainly be fired by Seoul Broadcasting.

And that’s why they decided to act as a group, not as an individual.

When Hyunwoo took a seat, Song spoke on behalf of the other producers. He brought up the main topic right away.

“The director of the cultural department and Producer Kwon are pretty selfish guys. They would wield knives without batting an eye for their own ambition even if someone was killed.”

That was what Jaeyol had told him exactly.

Their conclusion was simple. Namely, if people like them were allowed to advance their careers, the world would be put in great chaos.

Raising his hand, Hyunwoo cut off his words because he heard their bad rumors enough.

It was time to talk about what to do next.

“So, what do you want from me?”

“This is a golden chance to get rid of them. Please don’t give your special program on Ani & Funny to the cultural department of Seoul Broadcasting.”

Hyunwoo now could figure out what they were asking for.

Song continued, “It was reported to the management that Producer Kwon threatened you by citing your personal affairs. Even the president now knows that’s the main reason Seoul Broadcasting lost the program. And they’re holding a disciplinary committee to punish them now.”

Hearing Song’s explanation, Hyunwoo thought they deserved the punishment. Actually, he wanted to get back at them sharply, but they were set to receive punishment for their own wrongdoings.

What was disappointing, though, was that only Kwon, not the director, would be punished, given the atmosphere of the committee. In some respects, it was the director, not Kwon, who should be punished more heavily because he incited Kwon to do so.

“Kwon is his right-hand man. Obviously, they will not punish Kwon harshly. And in due time the management will get him back to his original position and let bygones be bygones. Don’t you think we have to stop that? I’m afraid to say this as his colleague, but I think he should be expelled from the broadcasting field.”

Hyunwoo was of the same opinion. Kwon was such a nasty guy. The more empowered he would be in the future, the more harm he would do to the society.

“What do you want me to do?” asked Hyunwoo.