Chick 233
by Cristae233
It was less than a week since Jjapsso’s latest item had debuted.
“Joorim.”
—Yes, Chairwoman Nam? Is something wrong?
“Why do you always assume something’s wrong? Can’t I call for no reason?”
—Well, you typically only call when there’s business, Chairwoman Nam. Generally speaking.
Sitting in the back seat of her sedan, Chairwoman Nam smiled as she brought up a screen on her monitor.
“I heard there’s a ‘Orchestra Challenge’ trending among the younger crowd these days, and it made me think of you, so I called.”
A sigh could be heard through the receiver.
Joorim, too, must have known all about the Orchestra Challenge.
It all started with a few Orchestra recruits uploading a video titled ‘Cute New Members of Orchestra.’
A video showcasing the use of items crafted with cotton candy caused a huge sensation, and Jjapsso’s items—which until then had only been distributed within Orchestra—suddenly began trading hands for staggering sums of money.
One influencer filmed a pop-art style video while trapped inside the cotton candy, and the view count surpassed 200 million in a short period. From there, reviewing Jjapsso’s items rapidly evolved into what was now known as the ‘Orchestra Challenge.’
Chairwoman Nam swiped her screen up to check the view count.
“It’ll hit 300 million soon, don’t you think? The attention people are giving your guild’s little crafter is overwhelming.”
Jjapsso’s items, with their childlike sensibilities, were embraced by young influencers as pop-art style fashion statements.
Meanwhile, for YouTubers who reviewed electronics, Jjapsso’s magic-engineered devices promised thrilling new possibilities.
‘Joorim really brought in an extraordinary kid. She’s so lucky.’
So far, aside from potions, items had mostly been just for Hunters.
There would’ve been doubts: ‘Would regular people ever have any use for these?’
But thanks to Jjapsso, expectations for item popularization were growing.
By introducing items combined with toys, Jjapsso had opened a new frontier.
Judging by the needs of the people, the question of usefulness was behind them now. The real question was: who would be first to successfully lead the mass-market race?
An understanding was already in place with Chairman On; all that was left was Joorim’s side.
A gentle smile crossing her face, Chairwoman Nam spoke.
—Joorim, would you like to open a pop-up store at our department store?
A quiet afternoon nap.
Joorim, lying back in her chair with Groo in her arms, replied half-heartedly—only to be startled by Chairwoman Nam’s proposal.
“Excuse me?”
Groo, huddled in Joorim’s arms, suddenly lifted her head.
Joorim nonchalantly rocked the child in her lap.
—You already agreed to sell the transforming toys, didn’t you? Starting from there, I want to try bringing Jjapsso the Hunter’s items to the general public. I already spoke to Chairman On. Didn’t you hear?
Jjapsso! That was Groo. Groo’s eyes sparkled as she strained to listen in.
Joorim, unbothered by Groo’s curiosity, continued her call with Chairwoman Nam.
“Oh, I heard about that from my father. He said Gnovation was going to build a consumer-facing brand.”
At the word ‘father,’ Chairwoman Nam laughed softly.
—Yes, that’s the one. By the way, you came up with an unusually cute idea, huh? Does it have anything to do with this friend called Jjapsso? If you don’t mind, I’d love to meet them sometime.
“…I’m afraid that would be difficult. My apologies.”
—I thought you’d say that. Who is this amazing person that you guard so closely? Anyway, what do you think about the pop-up store? We’re considering using the entire main event hall on the first floor of our store. How many items do you have available in reasonable quantity? And could you send some samples for display?
“Samples…”
—That’s right! Can you imagine how much more we could earn if we ride this magic engineering item boom now?
Joorim pressed her eyes with a weary hand.
She had little interest in business.
The whole reason she ended up making a magic wand was a five-year-old industrial spy who desperately wanted to transform.
It was never about making money or building a business.
Besides, Jjoapsso growing ever more notorious was not in her best interests.
So…
“…That would be a bit…”
…she was just about to decline.
But Groo, still nestled in her arms and secretly eavesdropping on the call, slid down to the floor.
The child began taking out armfuls of items from her bag and lining them up on the floor.
When their eyes met, Groo pretended not to have heard a thing, whistling poor imitations instead—only a feeble, breathy sound coming out.
“Whee— Wheek—”
How could she be so bad at hiding things?
The five-year-old before her was the very embodiment of ambition—hungry for fame and fortune.
Especially lately.
For some reason, she had been frantic about not earning enough money.
She was always asking when sales proceeds would be paid and insisted she wanted it faster.
Joorim thought she was giving enough allowance, but any further discussion was met with brisk shakes of Groo’s head.
Given all of that… if Joorim turned this down now, the little one, so excited to display her wares, would inevitably wear a look of utter despair.
—Am I pushing you too fast?
Joorim sighed, looking at Groo pretending not to listen.
“No, it’s fine. I’ll get things organized and visit you as soon as I can.”
—Really?
Chairwoman Nam sounded surprised. She had expected more resistance from Joorim, but she was relieved nonetheless.
—I’ll look forward to it, then.
Delight evident in her voice, Chairwoman Nam continued,
—Oh, and by the way. Did you hear anything from your father about the model?
“The model?”
—To promote the department store, I’m planning to put up a massive advertisement for the pop-up store outside.
“I see.”
—There’s a particular person we have in mind for the model.
“Who is it?”
Joorim turned her gaze at the name Chairwoman Nam supplied.
Groo, catching her mother’s eyes, just tilted her head in innocent confusion.