This is an incident that took place within the Martial Forest.
A whole village near the Divine River was wiped out.
The Martial Forest Alliance announced that this was the work of a demon from the New Religion group who practiced forbidden dark skills.
It was an absurd matter.
The New Religion had prohibited the cultivation of cruel dark skills for quite some time.
The royal family of the ‘Jun’ Empire, which ruled the Central Plains, generally had a stance of non-interference in Martial Forest affairs.
Typically speaking, a non-aggression policy between officials and Martial Forest sects was understood.
To the royal family, the New Religion and the Orthodoxy were much the same, and without special circumstances, they would not involve themselves in conflicts between Martial Forest factions.
However, there were situations where even the royal family had to intervene, like when innocent civilians who did not practice martial skills were massacred.
This incident was roughly one of those cases.
As things escalated, the royal family became interested in the matter, and the New Religion also found themselves in a position where they had to take decisive action.
The New Religion judged the incident to be a plot by the Martial Forest Alliance.
A scheme to alienate the people by wiping out villages while simultaneously provoking conflict between the royal family and the New Religion for their own gain.
Enraged by their underhandedness, the senior leadership of the New Religion, led by the Heavenly Demon, decided to punish them.
The New Religion’s response was simple yet radical.
First, they carefully selected a few orthodox sects near the Divine River.
They secretly infiltrated these sects and hid ancient secret manuals of the Blood Religion in their libraries.
After that, the process was straightforward.
Once the orthodox sects were handled, they announced that they were remnants of the Blood Religion.
In the presence of royal inspectors, the forbidden texts of the Blood Religion were discovered, leaving the Martial Forest Alliance’s counterarguments flimsy and without merit.
The area around the Divine River once again found its ‘peace.’
“Though, this is the usual manner in which the New Religion handles situations.”
Even for an organization like this, spreading rumors wasn’t particularly astonishing, but whether it would be effective was somewhat questionable.
Though perhaps discrediting others might not have helped secure concrete evidence to suppress my school violence controversy.
After all, this was not an essential solution, merely a deflection.
Surprisingly, however, it worked.
Firstly, when the initial article with real names was posted and erupted, people’s attention was drawn to it.
Mentioning real names without a certain level of assurance is a bold move, especially with potential risks of false information circulation or defamation of character.
But by boldly publishing the article, people began to doubt and assume, “So, is it really true?”
The rookie actor initially targeted turned out to have solid representation from a well-established mid-level agency, and the company quickly responded.
This side, having led a virtuous life, managed to provide clear testimony from school acquaintances denying any such incidents.
It was a wise response, and the rumor seemed to have ended as baseless.
But then, rumors about other entertainers with the same initial started to spread.
Some were saying that the B from K High was actually a different person.
At this point, people’s focus shifted to finding the real B, and the entertainers who were accused responded with their own methods to deal with the rumors.
Because of the first article, which drew aggressive attention with real names, the situation grew out of control.
And by this time, rumors about me also surfaced.
Somehow, they even retrieved my yearbook to craft a detailed story.
Our company’s response was stern: they outright refuted the claims and filed a lawsuit against those spreading rumors.
“Truthfully, up until this point, I kind of expected it.”
“But?”
“But, I didn’t expect things to flow like this…”
“Among five people, there’s usually one delinquent. With 17, how could there not be a troublemaker?”
The situation took a strange turn when a genuine school violence perpetrator was found among the 17 rumor targets that we had carelessly spread.
People’s focus converged, and it began to feel like an online challenge where people uploaded stories about the past of the rumor targets.
Encouraged by this atmosphere, victims who had suffered from school violence started to report their experiences.
Out of the 17, there were three school violence offenders.
The famous saying, “Among five people, there’s always one piece of trash,” was proven in reality.
With real school violence perpetrators revealed, other entertainers faded into irrelevance.
Despite my inability to provide strong evidence, my name was long forgotten by now.
As the bullies were ridiculed, the rumor situation eventually settled down.
“Though, I did suffer some unexpected damage…”
The only issue was my school story spreading online.
– “Baek Siu was a loner.
– “He was always murmuring to himself in a corner, a handsome loner.”
– “Maybe he was calling on a Black Dragon.”
– “Kekeke, scream! Servants of Hell!” – this kind of vibe?
“There are witnesses, though you don’t have friends.”
“Hmm, yeah, well…”
For goodness’ sake, when did I act like that?
Why am I embarrassed by stories from the past that I don’t even remember?
Of course, thanks to my friends’ testimony, I was promptly removed from the list of school violence offenders.
“Couldn’t we have done this without blowing things so out of proportion?”
From my perspective, I ultimately had the charges removed thanks to testimony from my friends.
If clarification articles and witness testimonies could have handled the rumors, why escalate things so much?
When I asked Chun Yua, her response was decisive.
“No, the order of events was flawed. The rumors grew so large that it became easier to get witness testimonies.”
“…Is that so?”
“And because there was a real offender substituting for us, people didn’t dig in and hold on. If only Siu’s rumors had circulated, this wouldn’t have worked.”
As the incident grew, a challenge emerged among 17 to find the real B, which naturally created an atmosphere encouraging upload of witness accounts about their pasts.
If not for that atmosphere, my testimonial might never have been uploaded, as per Chun Yua’s analysis.
If I had been implicated, no positive testimonies would’ve emerged because no one shares something that invites unnecessary negativity.
“So, how about the media company that published the article with real names?”
“They published an apology article. The actor’s agency said they didn’t want the incident to escalate further.”
“Is that enough?”
“Many media outlets don’t even do that much. Given this company’s nature, we kind of expected this result.”
What a strange world, eh? This is how media manipulators operate.
There are good journalists out there, but especially in the entertainment world, media manipulators proliferate quite a bit.
Of course, though we benefited from their actions this time, they are not likable people.
Nonetheless, Flame Entertainment’s methods of handling the press or the firepower they unleashed momentarily left a quite satisfying impression.
It was more effective because we anticipated the other side’s machinations. We ultimately triumphed against the media’s firepower.
And after this, I felt like we could really accomplish something.
“Yoo-a senior.”
“Yes.”
“Is it alright that we’re just taking hits?”
“Are you talking about Moon Enter?”
“Only because we were forewarned; otherwise, this could’ve been problematic.”
“… That’s true.”
“Moreover, this isn’t just my issue. The company money was invested in a drama, which almost got derailed.”
The party behind the operation against me is evidently Moon Enter.
I haven’t crossed swords with anyone else.
Perhaps Jo Yoo-shin, but even SD wouldn’t do such dirty work just for him.
And unless I had stolen someone’s role while becoming a new rising star, there was no reason to target someone like me.
Without your input, we might have wandered aimlessly trying to identify the culprit, but now we don’t have to.
Since there’s a clear offender, all that’s left is retribution.
The justification is more than sufficient.
This drama was vital for the company, and not only me, but attempting to harm the drama was a death-worthy offense.
“But Moon Enter has nothing really to attack, right? All they have is that woman, why would they touch our drama’s core role?”
“Yes, Moon Enter only has Senior Luna. So we aim for the most critical point.”
“How?”
“Bring over Senior Luna. There’s no better attack than this, right?”
“…Her?”
I never intended to interfere with her career.
Why would I bother someone who’s already become a star and living well?
But upon further thought, she’s far too valuable to be in a company like Moon Enter.
Ideally, the best move is for her to change companies, but given Moon Enter’s approach, it may not be so easy.
Unlike in sports where F.A. (free agency) concludes smoothly, in the entertainment industry, it’s hardly ever the case.
During a seven-year-long contract, companies resolve all sorts of issues for their talent, making leverage easy to wield. They frame it by saying the entertainer betrays the company that’s nurtured them from being a rookie, putting the entertainer at a disadvantage, and this is just how the industry works.
Especially with manipulative entities like Moon Enter, there’d inevitably be smear campaigns too, meaning our company is best equipped to handle such situations neatly.
Ultimately, it would be the cleanest outcome if she joins our company — good for both her and the company.
“Moon Suyeon…”
Despite this, Chun Yua still seemed to have some lingering hesitations.
I think this situation provides ample justification and practical benefits, so what’s bothering her?
Judging from her acting, she’s definitely someone Chun Yua would approve of. So what’s the hang-up?
In the end, I had no choice but to play my last card.
“I’ll use my free pass. You promised me this, Senior Yoo-a.”
“… Yes, I did promise. But you’re going to use it now?”
“Yes. I believe this is the wisest choice.”
The free pass secured when I volunteered at the orphanage.
Chun Yua’s promise to bring one person into the company without conditions — and I played that card.
Even after that, Chun Yua reluctantly nodded.
“Huh, I didn’t expect you to use this here. But we can’t recruit someone against their will.”
“I understand that too.”
“I just wanted to warn you because I know something. Remember what I say.”
“Yes, I will remember.”
“But… if she chooses to come… Flame will do its best to recruit her.”
In the end, Chun Yua gave her approval.
Now all that remains is her decision.
Since she’s begun to open up a little since the Cheonghakgeum shootings, it seems the time to launch active operations has come.
