God-Tier Enhancement: My Upgrades Never Fail-Chapter 128: Episode 25 _ Oh My, This Is a Must-Watch(3)

3.

It was insignificant, yet conspicuous.

It is rare for two such contradictory words to appear together. Frankly, it makes no sense. But what can you do?

It actually happened.

“Sir, we have a major problem.”

“I’m looking at it right now.”

“Do we really have to pay out the incentive for this?”

The Department Head remained silent.

Exactly.

An enormous volume of orders was flooding in under the name “Simin.”

In truth, when the marketing team lead added the condition, he hadn’t expected much.

The reason Han Simin was chosen as the manager for their advertising agency channel was solely due to his viewers, who possessed both purchasing power and the drive to act. Compared to other broadcast channels, his raw viewership was woefully low.

So, they set the bar high.

Of course, they set the reward high as well.

At the time, with the legal team watching with eagle eyes, the mindset was: ’It’s a condition he can’t achieve anyway, so sure, go ahead and try. If you actually pull it off, we’ll give you everything—profit be damned.’

That was how the contract was signed...

“This is driving me crazy.”

It was a sensation both delightful and unsettling.

From the company’s perspective, even without immediate profit, securing long-term bulk contracts with major conglomerates like this was far better.

It wasn’t as if they were taking a loss. They could use these contracts for further marketing. Even without explicit promotion, the title of being the exclusive food ingredient supplier for major corporations would become a hot topic and spread widely among the public.

And the revenue derived from that?

It would be incomparable to the massive incentive they had to pay Han Simin.

If that happened, Fresh Korea, which had been smaller in scale and revenue compared to other branches and the headquarters, would grow. The headquarters would take an interest and watch them closely, which meant a shortcut to success for the marketing team lead—a salary raise or a promotion!

So, it was good.

He erased the lingering discomfort of ’What if I had just lowered the incentive a little bit, just in case of that one-in-a-million scenario?’

Still, this had to be the limit.

’Surely it won’t go up any further from here?’

It was just good luck.

Who would have dared to predict it?

That the chairmen of major conglomerates would be watching a personal gaming channel with only a few thousand viewers.

“It’s right at the critical threshold, sir.”

“It’s fine. As long as it doesn’t cross that.”

The incentive increased astronomically as sales volume surged.

That meant if orders like this came in just ten more times under Han Simin’s name, all the revenue earned—and then some—might end up going to Han Simin!

Up to this point, it was acceptable. But if it went further, the more they sold, the greater the loss to the company.

The situation was baffling.

Yes, it was absurd.

It was a contract the company should never have made.

But no one could easily criticize it.

Who could have imagined?

That an advertisement placed by a single individual, with the humble hope of promoting it to just a few thousand people, would cause such a ripple effect.

The marketing team lead shook his head vigorously.

’Let’s not assume the worst-case scenario.’

Right.

There’s no way such luck would strike repeatedly in this world, right?

Just as an independent film made by an unknown director might go viral overnight and hit a million viewers, it cannot inherently hit ten million due to the entry barriers compared to commercial films.

He believed that.

He wanted to believe that.

And it seemed to flow as he wished.

For a few days, Han Simin’s graph merely maintained a certain cycle and did not shoot upward.

“Phew.”

He could heave a sigh of relief, just for those few days.

* * *

Han Simin hadn’t expected this kind of development either.

It was true that he set up the event to secure the incentive, but he also thought, ’Even if a few thousand people buy it, how much could they possibly sell?’

Moreover, he held the confident prejudice that his viewers were just people with nothing better to do than wait all day for his broadcast to turn on.

’At best, they’re probably well-off middle schoolers or college students.’

A very self-centered worldview!

Therefore, he had set the conditions targeting a different demographic, not the viewers.

But then, things exploded.

“What is this?”

If it was a conglomerate the size of Sanseong, naturally, articles would be written about such an event.

He wasn’t interested enough in reality to look it up himself, but he saw it because Kang Yeseul captured the article and sent it to him.

“What’s wrong with them?”

“I guess the Chairman of Sanseong watches your broadcast, Oppa.”

“Must be an old man with nothing to do.”

Kang Yeseul was speechless.

If that old man had nothing to do, then everyone else should just go die.

Shaking his head at the remark that wasn’t even worth responding to, she asked, “Oppa, by the way, isn’t the event reward too stingy?”

“What is?”

“No, I mean, you should at least offer a +14 enhancement. That would make it worth participating.”

The reason the Specialists returned from their hunt!

They were also aiming for the event.

However, since they could speak directly with the event organizer, they began to test the waters.

With Kang Yeseul, famous for speaking without thinking, acting as their representative.

“Right? That’s why I was going to call you, but you all arrived just in time.”

“Eh?”

“Sit down here for a moment. Seolah and Hyung, please sit, too. I have a proposal.”

The group looked at him in confusion.

However, they had no choice but to be flustered as he sat them down as if he had been waiting for them, prepared or not.

What was going on?

Anxiety slowly crept up.

This was like...

“You saw it this time, right? The advertising effect Fresh is getting from putting a single twenty-second ad on my broadcast?”

They looked puzzled.

“Are you selling snake oil?”

“Ahem! Snake oil? I am making a reasonable proposal.”

It felt like they tried to scheme but got caught in a reverse scheme.

“Actually, I wanted to propose this for a long time, but if it didn’t work out, I felt sorry since we know each other. And since money was involved, I thought it might get awkward, so I didn’t mention it. But now I feel like I can speak openly.”

The brazen man, who could treat friends coldly if it meant earning a single penny more, spoke with emotion.

“I am now ready to include advertisements for Hanshin Group and Jeongye Group.”

“...Excuse me?”

“Did I hear that wrong?”

“Not Please let me include them, but I am ready to include them?”

“Yes! That’s correct. I trust you will negotiate the pay well, considering my value has risen through the Fresh advertisement, and I will include them cleanly.”

Guts that went beyond mere audacity!

The three were speechless.

How should they express this?

It wasn’t forced selling, it wasn’t a request, and it wasn’t just shamelessness.

Or maybe, it was all of the above.

While they were stunned, wondering how to answer, Han Simin laughed.

“Hahaha! No, it’s a joke. A joke. Can’t I even joke between us?”

Silence filled the room.

“It didn’t sound like a joke at all.”

“Right. Oppa. That sounded completely serious.”

He flinched.

But without minding it, he brought up the real main topic.

“Actually, I am asking for a favor. Please put in some ads. It’s hard to make a living these days, you know? Whenever I get money, that bastard Squeaker devours it all, the territory devours it all. I have to earn money this way at least. Of course, I feel a bit sorry just taking it, so I’ll give you something I can offer separately.”

The three listened attentively to his serious words.

Because they instinctively guessed what that meant!

“A +14 Enhancement Ticket. How about it? If you sign the advertising contract, I will specially add a +1 enhancement to the event prize for the three of you.”

Their eyes widened in shock.

And that guess was correct.

A strange change occurred in the three, who seemed unlikely to bite at all.

’+14?’

It was never easy.

Of course, Han Simin was giving them special treatment with prime spots and doing the enhancements for them, but there was a limit to that. Ever since he resolved to control the supply of +15 items, even getting to +13 was a struggle.

He could do it.

But he couldn’t be sure how much it would cost.

In such a situation, would he do a +14 for free?

Of course, that “free” wasn’t really free, but humans are inherently selfish animals!

Hadn’t the Sanseong Chairman already shown them how to participate in the event?

On top of that, the fact that the enhancement status of several good items they purchased to finish Act 2 of the Main Quest was mediocre added to the temptation.

“Deal!”

Jeong Seolah shouted.

Then she disappeared.

Logged out.

That meant only one thing.

“Ah, damn. Unni is playing dirty.”

Jeong Hyeonsu and Kang Yeseul joined in.

Han Simin, having induced the real targets he set the incentive conditions for to participate, smiled with satisfaction.

You have to row when the tide comes in.

Since luck had crawled in from somewhere and laid out a stepping stone, it seemed he might be able to secure much more profit than he had thought.

* * *

The flapping of wings by the bottom one percent is buried, but everyone sees the flapping of wings by the top one percent.

At the same time, they hope.

’I want to flap my wings like that too.’

’What meaning does their flapping have?’

’Perhaps that is the driving force that allowed them to rise to that height.’

So, they copy it.

Thinking it might be the only common denominator that allows them to reach a place they cannot reach.

And as one or two do it, and it gradually becomes many, it solidifies into a social atmosphere.

Fresh was like that.

First, it was Sanseong.

Next was Jeongye, and then even the Hanshin Group.

Three representative conglomerates that spread across the world and made South Korea’s name known changed all food ingredient suppliers used within their companies to Fresh overnight.

The reason was simple: to take care of their employees’ health.

It was an obvious reason and a perfect excuse, but the fact that the chairmen who pushed for it immediately were actually eating Fresh food at home was also revealed through articles, becoming a hot topic.

Then, the trend-sensitive people in their twenties and thirties reacted first.

They are the generation leading society.

They didn’t have the power to create big changes, but the ingredients in their homes changed first.

Han Simin’s event?

Many people weren’t even interested in 『Fantastic World』, let alone the event.

Then, that change transferred to those in their fifties and sixties.

Mostly the parents of those children in their twenties and thirties!

They had led society and were currently the ones still operating society from high places.

People like conglomerate chairmen were a tiny minority, but at least the executive-level figures made suggestions.

“The social atmosphere is like this these days, so how about we change, too?”

Employee welfare equals company growth.

As such, an atmosphere formed across society, Fresh’s status pierced the sky and headed for the universe.

Their effort to pour money into promotion through articles and broadcasts, not missing this opportunity, also played a part.

In less than a month, Fresh was reborn from a company selling fresh ingredients eaten only by those in the know, to a company that anyone who cared about health, or any company that thought about employee welfare, had to buy from.

The power of SNS!

Added to that was the change in large corporations.

Every employee at Fresh smiled.

Except for one.

“...I’m dead.”

The money coming in was enormous, but the incentive going out to a single individual went beyond a gasp-inducing amount to the point where his vision went blurry.

The response was so good that fortunately, the worst-case scenario where the outflow exceeded the income didn’t happen, but that was only his thought!

Would the company really allow such massive expenditure?

No, the contract was already stamped and approved from above, so the money would go out.

He would just get chewed out.

“Phew.”

Still, at least he could leave having done something worth writing a line about on his resume.

Unexpected luck descended upon him as he despaired.

“Good work. Team Lead—no, should I call you Department Head now?”

Promotion and a special bonus!

“The money paid out is significant, but I never expected to achieve such valuable success in the Korean market so quickly. Please continue your good marketing in the future. Ah! Excluding contracts like the incentive one.”

The conglomerates had saved him.

* * *