They thought it was over.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPUp53ugAJf
But for the Boss, it was only the beginning.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAOtm7KyNvy
19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUKDda5npqp
Just as everyone fell silent before the unknown ahead,
the door was pushed open.
"Hm! Let's talk about the real matter."
The Boss stood at the doorway, strands of hair at his forehead still damp, a few droplets sliding down his cheek.
The Director looked up at him, pulled a tissue from the table, and handed it over.
"Go ahead."
The Boss took it, casually dabbed his face twice, then pulled out a chair and sat down.
"It's about our marketing..."
His tone shifted at once, carrying a touch of excitement he could barely contain.
"First, I need to tell you something. I submitted Guiltbound to a competition!"
The moment he said it, paused for a beat himself.
"...But it didn't even make it past the first round..."
The Screenwriter was still leaning back in the chair, but at that, sprang upright.
"Huh?"
"When did that happen? What competition did you enter?"
The Boss swiped through his phone, as if looking for proof.
"April... The 2025 CCPA Best IP Awards."
As he spoke, dropped the submission file into the group chat.
Several phones lit up at the same time.
The Manager was the first to frown, a fingertip pausing over a section of the description on the screen.
"This is a competition focused on IP development. But considering what Guiltbound is..."
Before he could finish, the Art Lead had already leaned over and glanced at the phone screen.
"NT$2,000 for the entry fee?"
"Back in April, Guiltbound wasn't even finished yet, was it?"
The Director leaned against the table, arms folded.
"Forget the competition. Even we classified this as niche."
The Screenwriter nodded.
"This was still the one you reluctantly took on back then."
Leaned back, and the chair swayed lightly.
"Otherwise, we'd still be filming your CP."
Everyone chimed in one after another.
"Hey, hey… no, no…"
The Boss hurriedly raised both hands, waving them in quick succession.
"Just listen to me first!"
The Art Lead crossed her arms, tilted her head slightly, and looked at him in a blunt tone.
"Alright."
"Go ahead."
As all eyes fell on him, hands were still frozen mid-air.
The Boss took a breath, shoulders slumping slightly.
"Sigh…"
His gaze lingered for a moment on the pile of breakfast still left on the table, before slowly drifting away.
"You all know… The Hidden Moon and the Sea of Dawn was originally made for self-satisfaction."
"But as we kept filming… I started to realize something…"
As he spoke, fingers unconsciously tapped twice on the table.
"If we want to keep indulging ourselves like this, we still need a business plan—we need income."
"And then I saw Popo’s BL project call, and that’s how Guiltbound came about."
The Screenwriter leaned back in the chair and tossed out a line, very matter-of-factly:
"So what's the point?"
The Boss paused for a moment.
The next second, suddenly clenched both fists, eyes lighting up.
"The point is—"
"I joined the CCPA Best IP Awards for exposure!"
His voice shot up instantly.
"And they even accept unfinished works!"
The Manager’s fingertip paused on the screen.
"If we look at it from an advertising perspective..."
Thought for a moment before nodding.
"Spending NT$2,000 and letting the organizer help with exposure… doesn’t seem too bad."
The moment he said that, the Boss immediately leaned forward, nodding repeatedly.
"Right, right! That’s exactly what I was thinking!"
The Director still had his arms crossed, head slightly tilted.
"Oh."
"So how effective was it?"
The smile on the Boss’s face froze.
His mouth opened, but no words came out.
The Screenwriter, watching from the side, couldn’t help but let out a soft sigh.
"Doesn’t look very promising…"
The Manager had already lowered head again, fingers quickly scrolling across the screen.
"I just tried it."
As he spoke, set phone down on the table, screen still showing search results.
"You have to type something very precise like ‘Guiltbound + CCPA Best IP Awards’ to find it."
The Art Lead looked up at the Boss, tone blunt.
"In a situation where no one even knows who you are… who would ever search for that?"
No one added anything after that line.
The small burst of momentum that had just been lifted slowly sank back down.
Silence held for a few seconds.
"Haha…"
The Boss suddenly laughed.
Lifted his head, expression turning slightly off.
"Exactly."
"I knew you'd find the effect was terrible."
The Art Lead opened her mouth, not even getting the chance to say anything.
But the Boss was already beyond responding—words starting to speed up.
"If we're destined to be niche—"
"Let’s say only 0.1%."
Raised a hand, pinching a tiny distance in the air.
"The point isn’t that only 0.1% love us."
"It’s how many people are behind that 0.1%."
And then, as if something inside him had been ignited—
"So I’ve reached enlightenment!"
Before anyone could react, turned and bolted toward the door.
His hand was already on the handle, then suddenly stopped.
"I'm going to call a meeting with Marketing and Tech!"
"See you in the meeting room in thirty minutes."
The door clicked open—then slammed shut again with a bang.
"…"
The Art Lead was the first to snap back to reality.
"Aaaaahhh—!"
"What is he doing?! I'm so scared!"
The Screenwriter buried their face in their hands.
"It's over… there goes my hair again…"
The Director had tried to laugh, but only squeezed out a weak attempt at reassurance.
"It's fine… it's fine…"
"At least it's still within filming territory."
But even with arms crossed, fingertips were trembling slightly.
The Manager said nothing.
Had already lowered his head, opening his phone and tapping into the cross-department group chat.
Fingers were flying across the screen.
Trying to find even a small direction before things started moving.
ns216.73.216.98da2
and then Add to home screen.