Ch.171I should fix it this time.

Daily Happy, an online entertainment news agency.

The place was currently in chaos.

“Is the Kim Donghu school violence story real? Find out quickly!”

“Shouldn’t we publish the article first?”

“This is too big! What should the headline be? ‘The True Violence of a National Team Gold Medalist?’ Ah! What should we use?”

Kim Donghu’s school violence controversy.

This was truly a sensational topic no one wanted to miss.

The ultimate ingredient that would taste provocative no matter how it was prepared.

Publishing the article would guarantee views.

But.

“Quiet. We’re not responding until the agency releases a statement.”

Daily Happy’s editor-in-chief Gil Gil-dong prohibited his staff from publishing any articles.

“What? What? Editor? Editor?!”

“Someone might try to upload it secretly, so put your phones in the central basket and gather in the conference room.”

Every single one of them.

“But, but still! Editor, are we really letting this go? This? Isn’t it strange not to cover this?”

Of course, some employees rebelled against Gil Gil-dong’s words.

But as is the way in workplaces…

“Just gather.”

When the boss says jump, you jump.

The employees couldn’t hide their disappointment as they watched the view counts rising on school violence accusation articles.

“Why are you doing this?”

“What did I say was most important when writing articles?”

“Word count? Provocative headlines? Juicy material?”

“No, intuition.”

“What?”

“I said intuition is most important.”

Saying that, Gil Gil-dong sat down in the center seat of the conference room.

Glancing.

He looked at the corner seat where he used to sit as the youngest staff member until a few years ago.

He recalled his memory of meeting Kim Donghu back then.

‘That guy hitting someone? And in middle school?’

That would mean he was violent during his High Dream days.

In Gil Gil-dong’s opinion, Kim Donghu from that time wasn’t someone who would bully others just because he was strong.

‘The incident broke about an hour ago, and the agency hasn’t responded yet.’

Normally in these situations, they would talk with the actor first.

Then decide how to respond.

And that response typically takes at least 12 hours, even at the fastest.

‘So for those 12 hours, reporters happily tear into them.’

That’s when the dogpile begins.

But somehow, he had an intuition that they shouldn’t throw stones like everyone else right now.

‘The most certain way to confirm this intuition is…’

To check the movements of their competitors.

“Has Dispatch published an article?”

“No? That’s why we were trying to move faster…”

They haven’t moved? Those guys aren’t doing anything with such juicy material?

“Really? Then from now on, prepare an article refuting Kim Donghu’s school violence controversy, saying something seems off, like it’s fabricated.”

“What?”

“Fill it with content, like building the opposition’s argument in a debate. You know what I mean? Write the article like that.”

It was suspicious.

No, it smelled dangerous.

‘Act rashly and you die.’

The reason Dispatch gets views despite being cursed at daily?

The reason so many people read them? It’s because they’re reliable.

They can deliver the most certain entertainment.

And such a place isn’t touching the currently hot Kim Donghu?

‘This is 100%.’

This is poison.

It was pufferfish poison that would only be enjoyable for exactly 12 hours.

‘There’s too much entanglement.’

If the school violence is real, we could properly serve revenge to Kim Donghu.

He’s currently filming at least three projects.

The variety show Will You Marry Me?, the drama Our Fake Marriage, and the movie The Real Hero.

We could properly challenge all of these.

Moreover, we could cause all his sponsorships and CF advertisements to be pulled.

But what if it’s not true? What if it’s all lies?

‘Then we’d face the scrutiny of all those companies in reverse. Since we threw stones without proper fact-checking, we’d naturally incur the displeasure of those companies.’

The entertainment industry is small.

And what moves that small industry is money.

And that money comes from companies.

“Something is happening on a scale we absolutely can’t handle.”

If we swallow this wrong, it’s over.

My intuition tells me.

To bet on the advantageous side, the side that anyone can see is riding the flow.

Amateurs bet on the side throwing stones at times like this.

‘All in.’

Gil Gil-dong bet on the side receiving the stones.

Why? Because the one receiving the stones is…

‘Kim Donghu.’

++++++

『Insufficient evidence, just one album photo? Woefully inadequate proof』

ㄴI’ve never seen Daily Happy like this, defending a school violence celebrity lol

ㄴWhat do you mean “never seen like this”? They’re all trash reporters anyway

ㄴDo you just take the opposite side of everything? Gil Gil-dong? I’ll remember that reporter’s name

ㄴCome on, there’s a clear victim, and they even later attached hospital diagnosis records lol

ㄴI understand wanting to kiss Kim Donghu’s ass because he’s successful, but this is too much

One random article defending Kim Donghu that appeared out of nowhere.

It stands out for being inappropriate to the situation and receives even stronger stones thrown at it.

“Still, there are people who know how to see things properly.”

Choi Seokho nodded with satisfaction as he looked at the article getting stoned.

Indeed, people with good intuition know how to survive in any situation.

“I’m glad you believe in us.”

Kim Donghu also smiled with satisfaction.

After the article broke.

The first calls naturally came from broadcasting stations and production companies.

They needed to know the truth to decide how to respond.

Choi Seokho’s answer was consistent:

-It’s all lies, so we’d appreciate your trust and patience. We’ll handle it soon.

The weapon of truth is very brief because it needs no embellishment.

It’s plain and simple because there’s no need to fabricate.

And that’s why it’s powerful.

The most primal force, that is truth.

Tick tock.

1 hour and 30 minutes since the incident broke.

30 minutes remaining.

During this time, Veritas prepares for friend-or-foe identification.

Which reporters will tear into Kim Donghu?

Which media outlets will make enemies with Kim Donghu?

“There are many smart journalists, or is it many smart editors-in-chief?”

Choi Seokho said this while looking at Kim Donghu.

‘Well, what madman would think of biting Donghu?’

Kim Donghu.

An endless filmography of achievements.

And inversely proportional to that, his young age.

Who would stand against someone with such a bright future?

Tick tock.

Time passes.

About 2 hours after the school violence article broke.

“Upload the rebuttal article, clearly state it’s the agency’s position, and say we’ll take legal action against all indiscriminate defamation.”

Under Choi Seokho’s command, the full-scale rebuttal began.

Normally, agencies respond very slowly to school violence allegations, but…

Choi Seokho and Kim Donghu had predicted this situation, so they were able to respond extremely quickly.

Jealousy and envy naturally follow successful people.

Therefore, they had already prepared countermeasures.

“Kangsik and Minhyeok said they’ll help too, so this will be over soon.”

For words to have power, thorough evidence is important, but…

Who says them is also extremely important.

In that aspect…

“Testimony from the developers of Happy Note, who are currently selling the most games in Korea… creating a new legend? This can’t help but be effective.”

Currently, Kangsik and Minhyeok’s statements carried enormous weight.

Originally, Shin Yerim was also supposed to join in, but…

‘Yerim is busy with overseas modeling activities, so we’ll pass.’

But this was enough.

Because…

[Why did Kim Donghu’s school violence controversy even break out? He has the best personality]

[I went to Shinbit Middle School with Donghu; does posting an album photo make everything true? Then I’ll post one too]

[I was in middle school with Kim Donghu; he’s not that kind of person. I couldn’t even talk to him… he was too handsome and radiant;]

[They clearly look like the Shinbit Middle School bullies, I won’t mention names specifically but honestly I know everything from back then]

[You bastard, you got beaten by Kim Donghu and now you’re writing this? I know who you are lol]

[This seems to be about an incident in 1st year of middle school, why aren’t they mentioning why the police came afterward? Because it’s disadvantageous? lol]

[There was only one time police came to Shinbit Middle School when Kim Donghu attended, how can anyone not know? Why isn’t anyone mentioning that?]

Posts refuting the school violence allegations were popping up everywhere from Kim Donghu’s fan cafe to anonymous sites.

“They must have enjoyed it briefly, that person who posted… what was their name? Whatever.”

Choi Seokho said this while clipping articles that defended Kim Donghu against the school violence allegations.

“We won’t be dealing with them anymore in the future.”

No interviews, no advertisements, no promotions with them ever again.

And strangely enough, the big outlets never touched Kim Donghu until the end.

As if they had foreseen this outcome.

‘They’re smart, for sure.’

Choi Seokho shrugged and rubbed his hands together.

“Well then, that friend who claimed to be a middle school classmate showed their bad intentions, so we should repay them in kind, right?”

“Indeed, their intentions were quite malicious.”

Even back then, they tried to use violence without a second thought.

Seems they still haven’t fixed that habit.

“We should correct them this time.”

++++++

The Kim Donghu school violence issue ended as if nothing had happened, just 3 hours after it broke.

Such quick handling that people might ask if it ever happened at all.

That’s why it didn’t affect my schedule at all.

Today is the filming day for The Real Hero.

‘An action scene in a warehouse to catch human traffickers.’

A moment that needs to show overwhelming brutality.

Before the actual filming begins.

I…

‘Immerse.’

Entered into the script.

And what I saw there first was…

‘What is this.’

A fragment of a cruel and violent world.

‘This is worse than with Lee J.’