Top Star by Luck

Chapter 제110화

“내기?”

Seo Jung Woo blinked.

It was as if he hadn’t properly heard what came out of Lee Min Ki’s mouth.

“Actor, what kind of bet are you talking about?”

“The time it takes for me to reach a certain number of followers.”

This was the beginning.

Lee Min Ki immediately opened his mouth as if he had already prepared.

“You and JC bet that my account would reach a million followers within three months, right?”

“Yes, of course.”

Seo Jung Woo nodded, looking slightly puzzled but willing to hear Min Ki out.

“Considering your current recognition, social reputation, and future potential for growth, it would actually be strange not to hit that number.”

His voice was calm, as if it was an undeniable fact.

There was no room for doubt.

But Lee Min Ki knew better than anyone that it was precisely these ‘reasonable’ things that often came with a jinx.

A jinx.

That instinct that something might fail.

‘Every time others got excited saying I’d succeed, I always ended up failing.’

It was superstition.

But the product of that superstition had turned into the Lee Min Ki of today.

He had literally seen the judges of the afterlife gambling over luck.

There was no reason not to believe in superstition.

So.

It might feel a little awkward, but he decided to borrow the power of luck.

‘What if I bet against the odds?’

By suggesting a truly impossible number.

That was the nature of luck.

‘If something that seems likely happens, you don’t call it luck.’

Luck was only recognized when something with ridiculously low odds succeeded.

That was what betting against the odds was about.

‘It’s worth testing.’

Ever since he reclaimed his luck after dying and coming back to life, Lee Min Ki had experienced a variety of fortune.

Yet surprisingly, he had never deliberately leaned on that luck.

Or rather, he had never even thought to try.

Buying that lottery ticket on impulse at the convenience store was the closest thing to it.

Everything else happened naturally, where luck followed the actions he chose.

‘But what if, just maybe, I could grant luck to my own actions?’

It was a game.

It might not go as planned.

But if everything happened exactly as planned, it wouldn’t be luck at all.

It was luck precisely because it was uncertain.

Trusting a little more in that luck, Lee Min Ki spoke with a gambler’s mindset.

“You said three months for one million, right? Sure. There’s no reason it can’t happen.”

“Yes, it would be strange to doubt it.”

“Then.”

Lee Min Ki interrupted.

“I’ll bet on two million.”

“……!”

“Within three months, I’ll bet on hitting two million followers.”

It was a bold number.

But even if he failed to reach two million due to the jinx, he would still surpass JC’s original goal of one million.

“That’s odd. You were just saying even one million seemed difficult.”

“After calculating various scenarios and running them through a deep learning algorithm, it suddenly seems achievable.”

“……I don’t think deep learning has anything to do with this, but fine. There’s no reason we can’t bet.”

Seo Jung Woo tilted his head slightly and then spoke.

“But for a bet, there needs to be stakes. What will you wager?”

This was another key point.

Both Lee Min Ki and Seo Jung Woo knew this bet was mostly a joke.

But if they were to wager, Lee Min Ki wanted to make it interesting.

The bigger the stakes, the more actively luck would align with him according to the gambler’s principle of underdog bets.

‘Let’s just go for it.’

A gamble was only satisfying when you took a bold risk.

Lee Min Ki opened his mouth.

“I’ll take on one project JC demands, no matter what it is.”

“……!”

Seo Jung Woo’s eyes widened.

‘That’s quite significant.’

It certainly was.

Who knew what kind of project JC might demand?

What if they forced him to star in some cheap adult film or a loan advertisement?

‘The actor is usually a cautious person, but did something set him off?’

Of course, JC was a proper company.

They had no intention of ruining their rookie star, who was on the fast track to becoming the next big thing.

Even if they used this favor, it would most likely be for a blockbuster project that Lee Min Ki didn’t particularly want to take.

Of course.

Lee Min Ki was well aware of that fact.

‘At worst, I’ll break even.’

After a brief moment of consideration, Seo Jung Woo opened his eyes.

“Alright, I accept. But I need to hear what you want in return.”

“What I want to wager…”

Lee Min Ki took a deep breath.

Since it was a gamble, the stakes needed to be significant.

But there was another trait of luck that Lee Min Ki considered here.

Namely.

‘Luck often followed altruistic actions more than selfish ones.’

It was the idea that good fortune accompanied good deeds.

No matter the culture, the moral of folklore was always the same: good deeds were rewarded, and greed led to ruin.

Just look at the quintessential Greek and Roman Mythology.

Didn’t mortals who got too greedy always lose everything in the end?

‘If you get too greedy, you fail. There’s no clearer logic when it comes to luck.’

It might have been mere folklore.

But folklore often emerged as the product of collective experience.

If wise storytellers had passed it down as wisdom for later generations, it could also serve as evidence.

‘An altruistic action for luck, then.’

What would be a good wager?

This was a huge experiment.

It was a chance to see just how far he could control his own luck.

If that were the case, he wanted to fully trust luck this time.

The moment of contemplation lasted only a few seconds.

Once again, Lee Min Ki’s hesitation didn’t last long.

‘This is it.’

Long ago.

From the days of the Kim Do Ha scandal, there had been something in his heart he had wanted to do.

“What I want…”

Lee Min Ki, having made up his mind, spoke.

“Hold a private audition for Seon Ah, Kim Tak, and Kim Ji Hwan.”

Audition Hosting.

That was exactly what Lee Min Ki wanted.

“……!”

Seo Jung Woo, completely caught off guard, looked visibly surprised and said,

“You’re wagering that those people get a chance to join JC?”

“No. I mean a literal audition.

You can test their skills, and if you don’t think they’re good enough, you can reject them.”

“……If it’s just that, it wouldn’t be too difficult.

But why?”

Why act altruistically?

That was probably his question.

Lee Min Ki let out a small sigh and spoke.

“JC hasn’t been holding many auditions recently—no, not at all, right?”

“That’s true.

We’ve been short on manpower lately.”

Seo Jung Woo’s response was accurate.

After the Daon incident, agencies across the board had reduced their recruitment of rookie actors.

Simply picking someone who looked skilled could lead to unforeseen problems.

It was safer to close the gates and be cautious.

“I just think…”

Lee Min Ki continued.

“It would be fun if those three joined JC and acted alongside me.”

Every week, those three came over to his apartment.

They watched movies, analyzed them, and even practiced acting together.

Wouldn’t it be nice to work together in a good company as well?

Besides, he had recently been hearing their frustrations.

[“These days, auditions have completely dried up.”]

[“That’s why I’m not even trying to go.”]

[“Tak, are you at least submitting applications?”]

[“Hey, don’t you trust me?”]

[“Kim Tak.”]

[“?”]

[“??”]

It wasn’t just those two.

There was one more person.

‘Ji Hwan has practically become a recluse since the Daon scandal.

This would be a good chance for him to make a comeback.’

Kim Ji Hwan had become an unwanted actor in the industry after the Daon incident.

There was no direct evidence linking him to the Kim Do Ha Scandal, but as a rookie actor who had been pushed by Daon, he was treated like a ticking time bomb.

But Lee Min Ki remembered clearly.

‘He had nothing to do with it.’

He knew because he was the one who exposed it.

Kim Ji Hwan had been someone who got on Hwang In Goo’s nerves—someone the CEO had criticized as a nuisance.

While it was an altruistic act, it wasn’t entirely selfless.

Clearing the debts in his heart now meant he could get something in return someday.

He knew.

When the assassin attacked, Kim Ji Hwan had been there, and Lee Min Ki survived.

What if that was a type of luck created by maintaining his relationship with Kim Ji Hwan?

“Hm.”

Seo Jung Woo fell into thought at this unusual bet.

And then he came to a decision.

No, he never really had to think deeply about it in the first place.

“I’ll need to check with the CEO, but I don’t see why not.

Alright.”

He accepted.

Even if he lost the bet, it meant gaining two promising rookies and one seasoned rookie.

If he won, he could assign Lee Min Ki to a project.

There was no downside.

“Then, I’ll create my account now.”

Shortly after,

Lee Min Ki’s first SNS account,

[immigrant_power], finally made its debut on the internet.

Why are people so enthusiastic about social media?

Or more specifically, why are they so enthusiastic about celebrities’ social media?

Why do they follow celebrities, trying to catch even a glimpse of their daily lives?

There are many reasons.

[“Because we’re curious.”]

[“Don’t you get curious about how successful people live?”]

Out of curiosity.

[“Because we like them.”]

[“There’s no need for a reason when you’re looking at pretty and handsome people.”]

Simply because they liked them.

[“Just because.”]

[“It’s like a habit I can’t shake.”]

[“Following celebrities kind of helps show off your individuality, doesn’t it?”]

It wasn’t necessarily about the celebrity; the act of following itself was the goal.

And also—

[“Looking at celebrities’ accounts is like looking at a fashion lookbook. You get a lot of inspiration.”]

People wanted to get fashion ideas from celebrities.

Here was where Lee Min Ki’s strength came into play.

[“Wait, what?”]

[“Lee Min Ki made an account?”]

[“Is this really Lee Min Ki?”]

[“JC just posted about it all over their artists’ accounts. LOL.”]

[“Wow, I didn’t know Min Ki even knew how to use social media…”]

[“He’s here. Let’s post it.”]

[“Post before he changes his mind!”]

Thanks to the Beomcheon Coffee commercial, he already had significant public recognition.

But he had never done social media.

Without even realizing it himself, Lee Min Ki had turned into a mysterious actor.

People couldn’t even find out what he ate, so it was natural they were curious.

[+300 (30 minutes ago)]

[+258 (17 minutes ago)]

[+177 (5 minutes ago)]

The numbers rose rapidly.

Every time someone refreshed the page, the count went up.

But it couldn’t end at just gaining followers.

For now, he just had a different starting line than regular users.

‘If you get complacent and start posting carelessly, it’ll fail.’

Lee Min Ki knew that managing social media also required skill.

To truly make good use of an account, you needed content that grabbed followers’ attention—even briefly.

And of course, he had that.

[“Wow, Min Ki really dresses well.”]

Thanks to Yoo Gyu Eon, currently the hottest designer in Korea and effectively Min Ki’s personal stylist, he had mountains of photos ready.

[“I didn’t know he had such a range of styles.”]

[“This isn’t common. You rarely see people dressed like this, but it wouldn’t even look out of place on the street.”]

Yoo Gyu Eon’s design philosophy shone here.

It was a perfect balance between what the public loved and what designers liked.

[“Where do you buy those clothes?”]

[“YU? Isn’t that the popular shopping mall lately?”]

Naturally, this gave Yoo Gyu Eon a trickle-down effect of popularity.

[+5152 (7 hours ago)]

[+1145 (2 hours ago)]

The numbers rose rapidly.

It was an overwhelming rate, almost unimaginable for a normal start.

As JC had confidently predicted, this speed far exceeded even Lee Min Ki’s expectations.

One million might sound like a high target, but for JC, it was a realistic number.

However, it wasn’t enough.

It was still far from the ambitious goal of two million.

‘The early days always come with a boost.’

With the initial push, he surpassed 20,000 followers in just one day, but there was no way this momentum could continue for 100 days straight.

No matter how fast the growth, it was widely accepted that the numbers would hit a plateau at around 600,000.

Therefore, something additional was needed.

Just like a rocket gains momentum by separating into its second and third stages,

Lee Min Ki’s SNS needed a booster.

And.

There was luck here as well.

Luck existed.

[Boyana Olsen - Treatment (official music video)]

[Released 3 minutes ago]

Once again, it must be said.

There was luck.

Luck that Lee Min Ki had created for himself.