The Replay Project

To think she'd tried to escape the original story, only to end up sitting right here in this seat.

Sojin let out a sigh.

This conference room, too, was exactly as she'd seen it in the drama.

Now Dohyun's going to announce it. His hidden goal.

Just then, the door to the conference room opened.

Dohyun, dressed in a deep navy suit, walked straight to the front of the room. His steps never wavered, and his expression was as coldly composed as ever.

When he took his place, the low murmur filling the room cut off in an instant.

He pressed a button on the remote, and enormous letters appeared on the screen.

"Let's begin the meeting."

His low voice resonated through the conference room.

"Replay OTT is Kangseong Media's media platform."

Dohyun advanced to the next slide.

"The official goal of the Replay Project is one thing: to develop an IP capable of defeating our competitor, the OTT platform Honest, completely."

He pulled up the metrics showing how Replay was being outpaced by Honest.

"That is the official goal."

He continued without a trace of hesitation.

"Replay must become the number one platform not just in this country, but the number one OTT platform in the world."

A new line appeared on the screen.

Sojin found herself staring at Dohyun without meaning to.

...He is impressive, though. Just like in the drama.

Dohyun knew how to overwhelm people. Without ever raising his voice, he commanded everyone's full attention, and he had a gift for making even impossible-seeming goals feel like things within reach.

But Sojin could see it.

That goal wasn't for the company's sake alone.

If the Replay Project succeeded completely, he could go back. Back to the seat that had been stolen from him — returning before the very people who had pushed him out, carrying the most undeniable achievement of all.

More than likely, this very project would determine whether Dohyun returned or not.

When they reached the final slide of the presentation, Dohyun delivered his closing remarks.

"Please prepare a presentation analyzing the causes of Replay's failures by next week. We'll be moving into discussions on the direction of the new IP the week after."

The Planning Team 4 leader cautiously raised his hand.

"Executive Director, isn't that timeline a bit tight?"

Dohyun turned to look at him.

"Well. If you can't manage even this much, is there any reason for you to hold that seat?"

"..."

"If this were something that could be done at a leisurely pace, I wouldn't have gathered each team's core personnel in the first place."

The Planning Team 4 leader shut his mouth.

"Adequate results will not do."

He spoke decisively.

"The market response was decent. The internal evaluations were passable. We closed a little ground against Honest. Results like those mean nothing."

Dohyun swept his gaze across the entire room.

"Replay must become the standard for the entire world."

Silence settled over the room. In the middle of it, Dohyun closed his document folder.

"That's all. Team leaders, come to my office in ten minutes."

The meeting was over.

People rose from their seats one by one. The members of Planning Team 2 looked at Sojin with anxious faces.

"Team Leader... what should we be preparing for?"

Sojin watched Dohyun's retreating back for a moment, then closed her laptop.

"We'll discuss the details at the team meeting. For now, just put together a summary of today's meeting."

The team members exchanged glances for a moment, then nodded.

"Yes, Team Leader."

"Then I'll head over to the Executive Director's office."

Sojin looked up at Dohyun with nervous eyes.

He spoke.

"The teams will compete against one another."

She'd known it was coming, but hearing it firsthand still stunned her.

When I watched it in the drama, it was just a funny scene.

Because it was that scene where Sera, subtly jealous of Yuna, went digging for dirt!

Now that I'm hearing it in person, there's no proposal crazier than this.

Competition was efficient — but it could just as easily split teams apart.

This is straight-up gambling.

He probably knew all of those risks, too.

"We'll be ranking the teams."

"Ranking... you said?"

He continued without a flicker of hesitation.

"The team that delivers the highest results will receive compensation to match. Performance bonuses, promotions, and priority rights to the next project."

The team leaders, who had looked dazed only moments before, shifted subtly in their expressions.

Wow. Look at all their eyes change.

Dohyun spoke evenly, as if fully aware of it.

"However, this information must remain with the team leaders alone."

A brief silence fell among them.

"That teams will be ranked based on their results, and that this will proceed as a competition — all of it."

Yuna, the Planning Team 1 leader, spoke up carefully.

"Might I ask why we're not to inform our team members?"

"Because the moment they know, the purpose becomes clouded."

Dohyun answered immediately.

"I have no desire to see conflict arise among team members."

"..."

"And I have even less desire to see them swayed by the reward dangling in front of their noses."

"..."

"Keeping it as the team leaders' share alone is cleaner all around. You're all seasoned professionals, after all."

Sojin laughed hollowly to herself.

What a nice-sounding speech.

In the end, it meant every ounce of responsibility landed on the team leaders.

The Planning Team 5 leader flipped through the documents and asked.

"What criteria will be used for the performance evaluations?"

"The first round is the completeness of the planning proposals. The second is verification of market viability. The third is actual producibility and scalability."

Dohyun tapped the documents on the desk with his fingertip.

"The point breakdown for each category is in your materials. The final judgment will be mine."

At those last words, the team leaders' expressions stiffened almost imperceptibly.

What that meant was simple: unless they could convince Dohyun, nothing in this competition would matter.

The Planning Team 4 leader gave a low laugh.

"So in the end, it all comes down to pleasing you, Executive Director."

Dohyun's expression didn't change in the slightest.

"To be precise, you must be able to convince the market."

"The market or you, Executive Director — I suppose we'll have to learn to tell the difference."

It was tossed out like a joke, but there was an edge buried inside it.

The Planning Team 3 leader jumped straight in.

"No need to tell the difference. Your standards surely aren't lower than the market's."

"Is that so?"

"Do you doubt the Executive Director's keen insight?"

The words were polite, but the atmosphere was anything but.

The moment Dohyun struck the match, a subtle friction began to spread among the team leaders.

Yuna quietly kept her eyes on the documents.

The Planning Team 5 leader wore a faint smile at the corner of his mouth, like a man who had already finished his calculations.

Sojin rolled her eyes and read the room.

Sera, you were seriously something else.

To have played the clueless instigator among people like these, knowing nothing.

Experiencing it firsthand, I'm so tense I could die.

Sera might have been more than just thick-skinned — she might have been a genuine veteran of the game.

Just then, Dohyun's gaze landed on Sojin.

"Team Leader Lee Sojin."

Her shoulders flinched.

"Yes."

"Planning Team 2 will be evaluated by the same standards as everyone else."

"...Yes. I understand."

"There will be no special treatment."

Whether she'd been brought in on the Chairman's orders, or happened to be his fiancée — there would be no individual benefits.

Sojin met his gaze with unwavering eyes.

"I wouldn't ask for any."

Dohyun's brow moved, very faintly. The team leaders' eyes all turned toward Sojin.

An extremely brief stillness flowed through the Executive Director's office.

Dohyun studied her for a moment, then withdrew his gaze.

"Good."

He looked around at the team leaders.

"Data sharing is limited to the common database. Do not, under any circumstances, exchange information between teams."

Dohyun shut the folder on his desk with an audible snap.

"Then I'll be expecting great things. Now, everyone—"

Just then, she heard the sound of a keyboard.

A keyboard... sound?