Korean Entertainment: My Reborn Self Shorts the Korean Peninsula

Chapter 9 | PLEDIS Entertainment

Cao Rouli seemed to suddenly remember something and gently patted her forehead.

"Ah, code."

Her tone suddenly brightened, "You know fromis_9, right?"

Cao Yisen looked up. "Yes, I know."

"They used to work at the same company as me."

Cao Rouli said casually, "There's news that he's about to be traded to PLEDIS."

She paused for a moment, as if quickly sorting out the relationships in her mind.

"Why don't you go take a look over there?"

She looked at him and said, "I'm quite familiar with the members of fromis_9, so I can at least help you find the right people."

Choi Ye-na nodded in agreement.

"Yes, PLEDIS."

She said, "That company isn't considered small anymore."

Cao Yisen did not answer immediately.

PLEDIS.

The name was not unfamiliar to him.

In his previous life, he worked in venture capital in South Korea for a period of time. Although the entertainment industry was not his main focus, he had seen everything that needed to be seen.

Prior to 2019, PLEDIS had an outdated structure, conservative management, strong artist development but slow commercialization.

But after 2021, everything changed.

The acquisition of HYBE is complete.

Funding, systems, and global channels were all integrated.

The company's size didn't increase overnight, but its ceiling was raised.

"PLEDIS..."

Cao Yisen repeated it in a low voice.

Choi Ye-na looked at him. "What? You have a problem with that again?"

"No, that's not it."

He shook his head, his tone much calmer than when he mentioned SM earlier, "It's just a bit of a surprise."

Cao Rouli noticed this change.

"Why are you so calm this time?" she asked, half-jokingly.

Cao Yisen thought for a moment and then decided to cut to the chase.

"That company is different now."

Choi Ye-na blinked. "How do you know everything?"

"I've been involved in some investment projects before," he said softly. "I've also looked at some entertainment companies."

There was a moment of silence at the table after those words were spoken.

Cao Rouli turned her head to look at him, her eyes showing a hint of genuine surprise.

"You've done this before?"

"I've seen it, but it's not my main job. It's a university project, I guess," Cao Yisen said, making up a pretext.

Many things from my past life can only be revealed like this now—

Fragmented, incomplete, just enough.

Choi Ye-na, on the contrary, became even more interested.

"So what do you think?" she asked. "Would PLEDIS work?"

Cao Yisen did not give a conclusion immediately.

He lowered his head and picked up a piece of food with his chopsticks, moving very slowly.

"There are at least two advantages," he said. "First, the funding behind it is stable, and it won't change its direction arbitrarily because of short-term performance."

"Secondly, we are currently in a period of internal adjustment, and the operations department is actually short of staff."

That's too specific.

Cao Rouli looked at him and suddenly smiled.

"The way you talk doesn't sound like someone who's 'unsure of their direction' at all."

Cao Yisen looked up and smiled.

"I just know I don't want to take another careless step."

Choi Ye-na slammed her hand on the table.

"Let's set a direction like this then."

She said, "I'll ask the people at PLEDIS for you, and Yuri unnie will help you set up the fromis_9 connection."

She paused for a moment, then added:

"Compared to SM, at least there aren't as many 'invisible things' there."

When Cao Yisen heard this, he knew very well what she meant by "the unseen things".

He nodded.

"You can give it a try."

Cao Rouli visibly breathed a sigh of relief.

"That's great."

She said, "At least it's not like we hit a wall right from the start."

She lowered her head and smiled, her tone carrying a hint of relaxation for the first time.

"Sometimes I feel that way too."

She said, "At this stage of our lives, it's actually more appropriate to go to a place that's 'changing'."

Cao Yisen did not respond.

But he already knew perfectly well what was going on in his heart.

If SM is an old scene he would never have set foot in again in his past life, then...

PLEDIS—that was a position he could just fit into in this lifetime.

People continued to talk, pick up food, and laugh in the restaurant, but the conversation had already drifted off in another direction.

He suddenly remembered the acquisition battle of SM Entertainment in 2023 in his previous life.

That year, the entire South Korean entertainment industry was practically torn apart.

It's not about the work, it's not about the artist, it's about control.

HYBE went first, followed by Kakao. Stock price, board of directors, public opinion—these factors piled up one after another.

At that time, he was still on another device.

Faraday Future's valuation has been pushed close to one trillion US dollars.

The capital scale is on a completely different level.

SM? Back then, it was only worth a few billion US dollars.

To be honest, he didn't consider it a worthwhile bet at all.

But he didn't mean he didn't touch it at all.

Someone contacted him privately.

"Should I buy it?" "Which step is the most dangerous?"

He just casually mentioned a few things:

The management structure is too outdated.

The founder has too much influence

External capital will enter the market sooner or later.

Once the fighting starts, it will only be a war of attrition; no plan has been provided, and no conclusion has been reached.

Because in his eyes, it wasn't a game of "whether it's worth it" or "whether it's worth it," but a game of who couldn't take it anymore first.

Later, the results came out, and Kakao won. HYBE was eliminated. At the time, he just glanced at the news and didn't think much of it.

Looking back now, this point in time suddenly seems quite interesting.

It's not because of SM Entertainment, but because of HYBE, oh, now he's also called Big Hit.

They didn't take over SM, but they didn't stop.

PLEDIS, Source Music, ADOR... step by step, piecing together the puzzle in a different form.

Instead of vying for the old throne, he wanted to create his own system.

"What are you thinking about?"

Choi Ye-na looked at Cao Yi-sen, who was in a daze, and suddenly asked.

Cao Yisen came to his senses.

"It's nothing."

He said, "I was just thinking about some things from the past."

Cao Rouli glanced at him.

"Your expression just now didn't look like 'it's nothing,'" she said.

He smiled and did not deny it.

"If Big Hit really acquires SM Entertainment,"

He mentioned it casually, "The future landscape will be completely different."

This sentence was said very softly.

The two people at the table paused simultaneously.

"You're making it sound like..." Choi Ye-na blinked, "like you know the future."

"Yes, I came from the future."

Choi Ye-na patted him on the shoulder and teased, "Oh my, I've been reborn too..."

Cao Yisen thought to himself, speechless, "These days, nobody believes the truth anymore?"

He looked down at the table.

In his past life, that wasn't a battlefield he cared about. The scale was too small. The money-making speed was too slow.

But this life is different.

He is no longer standing on the edge of a trillion-dollar market.

Rather, it's within the system.

If he had only offered a few pointers during that acquisition back then, in this life, he suddenly wanted to see what it would be like if HYBE were to actually complete the entire game.

"PLEDIS is now part of the big hit system, which is actually quite interesting."

He looked up and said, "It's not the center, but it's crucial."

Cao Rouli was slightly taken aback.

"You mean... a springboard?"

She asked tentatively.

Cao Yisen neither nodded nor denied it.

He only said one sentence:

"Some places, though not in the spotlight, offer views in all directions."

Choi Ye-na looked at him and suddenly smiled.

“You really don’t seem like someone who’s ‘just looking for a job,’” she said. “You’re not planning some kind of ‘big short’ operation, are you?”

Cao Yisen smiled as well.

"Right now, I'm just looking for an entry point."

—--------------------------------------------------------

By the time I got home, it was already dark.

Busan's nights are quiet, with a sea breeze blowing between buildings, carrying a hint of dampness. The hallway lights aren't very bright, and footsteps are made very softly, as if afraid of disturbing something.

Cao Rouli put her shoes away and hung her bag behind the door, but didn't go into the room immediately. She stood in the living room for a while, as if processing the day's events.

Cao Yisen went to the kitchen to pour water, and the cup hit the countertop with a very soft sound.

"How are you today?"

She suddenly asked.

It's not about "Are you happy?" or "Are you tired?"

It was just a very ordinary sentence.

"good."

He turned to look at her. "And you?"

She thought for a moment, then sat down on the sofa, pulled her legs up, and hugged her knees.

I can't quite explain it.

She smiled and said, "It's that feeling where, at the end of the day, you realize you still haven't quite let go of the past."

The living room was quiet. The TV was off, and there was the occasional sound of cars outside the window.

Cao Yisen handed her the water and sat down himself.

"You were actually very composed at the dinner table."

He said.

She turned to look at Cao Yisen, "Which kind of stability do you mean?"

"That kind of... steady feeling of having already figured out which way to move forward."

He spoke slowly, "It's not an act."

Cao Rouli paused for a moment, then smiled and looked down.

"You figured it out."

She took a sip of water, and her tone gradually relaxed.

"Actually, I was also panicked."

She said, "But if even I get confused, then I really can't go on."

She paused, then added:

"When I was in the troupe, I always felt like I had a lot of people to share the burden with. Now that it's my turn, I realize that when you're standing alone, the wind is really strong."

Cao Yisen did not respond.

He knew this wasn't the time to need a "solution".

All they need is to be heard.

"Over at WAKEONE..."

She continued, "You have to fight for many things yourself. Resources are limited, so you have to be careful with your exposure."

Sometimes I wonder if I'm just unlucky.

This sentence was said very softly.

Yet it carried a hint of uncertainty that she rarely showed to others.

Cao Yisen looked at her, and after a few seconds, he spoke.

"You're not unlucky," he said. "You've just taken a harder path."

She looked up at Cao Yisen.

This time, there was no teasing.

"The way you talk lately has really changed."

She said softly, "You never used to be like this."

Cao Yisen smiled and did not deny it.

"Maybe it's because I've grown up."

She gave a soft snort. "How old are you?"

That's what he said, but his tone softened.

She looked at Cao Yisen, as if she had suddenly remembered something.

"Do you know?"

She said, "When my mom brought you home, many people were not optimistic about it."

"Why are you saying 'we're not related' and 'will this cause trouble later'?"

She shook her head.

"But from the beginning, I felt that you weren't the kind of person who would hold others back."

Cao Yisen remained silent for a moment.

This body's memories contain many vague fragments—changing schools, adapting to new environments, being treated politely, yet always feeling a certain distance.

She was one of the few who never hesitated on that line.

"You were probably very busy back then too."

"I'm busy."

She smiled and said, "Practice, schedule, and pressure are all tangled up."

"But when you're home, it's very quiet."

She looked at Cao Yisen and said, "On the contrary, I feel like there's another person in the house."

It's not a burden.

So that's why.

She gently patted his arm. "Whether you go to Seoul or PLEDIS, don't feel like you owe anyone anything."

"You have your own path."

She paused, her tone becoming serious.

"But no matter what, this is a place you can come back to."

This sentence, though not emphasizing "home," carries more weight than that word.

Cao Yisen's throat tightened slightly. He nodded and only said one sentence:

"I know."

She looked at him and suddenly smiled.

"alright."

She stood up. "I've talked too much serious stuff today."

"You should get some rest."

Cao Rouli turned and walked towards her room, then turned back and added, "I'll ask about the interview for you tomorrow."

The door closed very quietly.

The living room fell silent again.

Cao Yisen remained seated, not moving immediately.