The Parachute Hire is Too Competent

Business Strategy Division Meeting (1)

My welcome party had ended.

It was uncomfortable, but there was nothing I could do. I had brought it upon myself.

When I checked my phone, there was a message.

[Chairman: Believe in yourself. And find someone people believe in you.]

What is this, seriously? What's with this random message? I had no idea why the chairman sent something like this so late at night.

Anyway, higher-ups always... Even if they say something vague, they expect us to understand it perfectly.

"Director Lee Hyunmin, could we have a word?"

I was about to head home when someone stopped me.

He was a man in his fifties, a bit balding, thin, and wearing black glasses.

"You're the finance team leader, aren't you?"

"Yes, that's right. You might have forgotten my name... I'm Kang Sangsu."

Although he was much older than me, he was quite polite. Even his voice was careful.

"I apologize for being rude, but I have something I wanted to ask."

"Please, feel free."

"I was just curious why you brought up the parade earlier."

What's his intention?

He didn't seem to be picking a fight or complaining.

I felt a bit of caution, but honestly, even if I gained more enemies here, nothing much would change.

And then there was the chairman's message: Believe in myself.

Was it because of that?

I started believing that the most appropriate action was to speak my truth honestly.

I showed him the photo I had sent Min Jina earlier.

A picture taken from the secret room, overlooking the theme park.

"I really love this view."

I shared with him my vision for the theme park. Once I finished, I felt a bit embarrassed.

What was meant to be brief had turned into a thirty-minute monologue while standing there.

"I... I must have talked too much."

He shook his head.

"Oh! Not at all. Now, if I may speak, I'm not as great or as determined as you are, director. I'm timid, always worried..."

He glanced around and spoke even more quietly.

"I'm just the powerless finance team leader who does whatever the executive vice president says, but I'm worried. Is our theme park really going to be okay like this? Since my job is handling the money, I can't avoid seeing some uncomfortable truths."

He let out a heavy sigh.

"I like my workplace a lot. It's close to home... Though I'm not originally from Nonsan. I moved here because of my health. At my age, it would be hard to go somewhere else, so I hope to work here until I retire. But no matter how many times I punch it into the calculator, I really wonder if the chairman can keep pouring money into the theme park."

Sharp observation.

This theme park has five years left on its life.

As I stayed quiet, he eyed me and continued.

"I don't know exactly what role you came here for. But from what you said, at least your will to save the theme park seems sincere."

"Yes, I will definitely save this theme park."

"That's why I'm telling you this—there's the Business Strategy Division meeting tomorrow, right?"

Tomorrow at 3PM—the Business Strategy Division meeting.

The Business Strategy Division is in charge of the management of the theme park.

Under it are the Marketing & Public Relations Team, business Strategy Team, HR Team, finance Team, General Affairs Team, event & Performance Team, and Legal & Audit Team—a total of seven teams.

Since management is involved, and the executive vice president—who is the company's number three—directly oversees it, you could say it ranks above the other three divisions: Theme Park Operations Division, external Business Division, and my Reform Division.

Tomorrow's Business Strategy Division meeting will include the executive vice president, all department heads, and the team leaders and key personnel from the seven teams.

"They'll make a point of saying they'll listen carefully to your Reform Division director's view, but will likely barrage you with questions that will be hard to answer. The idea is to make it seem like the new director knows nothing."

I see. Because I had made comments that rubbed the executive vice president and other long-standing people the wrong way today.

Maybe I should've kept quiet earlier?

No, I did the right thing.

If we hadn't had that gathering today, I would've made those remarks in tomorrow's meeting, and I definitely wouldn't have been able to respond to their attacks properly.

I would've started off on the wrong foot.

"Thank you very much for telling me this."

I bowed in gratitude, and he added one more thing.

"There should be a folder in the Business Strategy Team's intranet called something like 'Obsolete Documents'. There's some useful material in there."

Kang Sangsu, the finance team leader, bowed deeply at a 90-degree angle. We exchanged farewells and turned to go our separate ways.

"Ah! Director, there's something I really wanted to say."

"What is it?"

"I envy you."

I was so taken aback that I just stared at him blankly. Then he gave a faint smile and said,

"Having something you love and working hard for it. People my age don't have that anymore."

He clenched his fist.

"I may not be someone impressive, so I can't be of much help... but hang in there."

It was truly a curious experience.

Who knew that a simple word of encouragement could be so comforting?

Especially coming from a much older man.

On a late night waiting for spring, I realized the wind was warmer than I had expected.

***

Even though I was still a little drunk, I returned to the office.

I logged into the intranet and checked the folder the finance team leader had told me about.

While skimming through the documents there, I discovered a file.

[History of Next Planet's Business Failures]

Was this from a consulting firm? It's way too cynical for a document written by an insider.

No matter how much you're writing a report on failure, the title is usually more optimistic.

That's just business etiquette.

[Author: Choi Hyena / Department: Business Strategy Team]

Wow... An internal staff wrote this.

Curious, I opened the file. The number of Word pages wasn't in the tens, but the hundreds. The volume was enormous.

It was a document summarizing the attempts, perspectives, and failures of the theme park's past general managers.

I had wanted to know what processes the current theme park had gone through to reach this point, so this was perfect.

Until now, everything had been so fragmented that I had to search bit by bit and organize things myself. That would take forever.

This was precisely the kind of material I needed right now.

With curiosity, I started reading.

The theme park's first CEO was David.

He came from a Disney park in California—the best of the top elites in the industry.

What kind of attempt did he make? What was his perspective?

[Clear theme, theme, theme. Find a theme that will be loved by many for a long time.]

I nodded.

As expected of a Disney elite. So what kind of theme did he propose?

[Rock and Heavy Metal Paradise]

Huh? Did I read that right?

I checked the initial plans for the theme park. The overall design was like a venue for a rock and heavy metal festival.

The design itself was art. If I liked rock or heavy metal, I would've fallen in love with this park.

But in Korea, this isn't it. It was overambitious.

I checked more information about him.

[I'll strike the lukewarm hearts of Koreans with the spirit of rock and heavy metal.]

He was just a huge rock and heavy metal fan, wasn't he? How ridiculous.

Naturally, this concept was never realized. He was fired.

"He's nuts."

Still, this crazy guy accomplished something. He connected our theme park with some of the world's best attraction manufacturers.

Shall I look at the second general manager?

His name was Rooney, from London. While David was someone who had been at one firm for a long time, rooney had vast experience at major theme parks in the US, France, China, and Japan.

[The importance of space utilization and efficient flow]

Rooney believed that having lots of top-quality rides arranged efficiently was the key.

Our theme park's layout was truly excellent—this was thanks to him.

[Resigned voluntarily two months after theme park opening]

Huh? At such a crucial time? Why?

[Main reason: homesickness, especially the food didn't suit him.]

I could understand homesickness, but... What? An Englishman complaining about the food?

That's weird.

So I dug a bit more into his personal record.

He'd lived in Korea for three years. He moved around the world too.

He just used homesickness and food as an excuse to run away after the park didn't perform well.

Shaking my head, I checked the third general manager's approach.

The third was someone I knew: Kim Myungmin.

He was from headquarters and regarded as one of the most competent PDs in the industry.

He was also the youngest ever executive at headquarters.

I'd heard that he requested to be assigned to the theme park, boldly declaring he'd realize the chairman's dream.

[We follow Neentendo now, but one day, nintendo will follow us.]

It was an ambitious sentiment.

Neentendo achieved massive success by plastering its theme park with its game IPs.

It seemed Kim Myungmin decided to follow Neentendo's strategy to the letter.

Was it because he loved the company too much?

Or because he was overconfident?

The parent company's flagship IP 'Battle Fire' was indeed a globally successful game.

It generated hundreds of billions in profit.

But it was a battle royale game where a hundred people fought to the death until there was only one survivor, all in a confined space.

Pushing that IP at a family-oriented theme park?

Other headquarters games had some success, but the IPs weren't strong enough to attract the general public.

It was on point to approach the essence of a theme park, but it was also a choice that was bound to fail.

The fourth manager was passionate about performances.

Trying to bring in idols and musical actors for daily mini-performances to draw crowds.

At the same time, giving unknown entertainers opportunities.

A good intention.

The fifth tried to leverage local festivals and connect with regional businesses.

Since there's an army training center in Nonsan, he even tried to link that with 'Battle Fire' IP.

Pretty desperate moves.

I smiled wryly.

Why did they keep pushing forward with impossible ideas, believing the impossible was possible?

Because they were incompetent, stupid, or inflexible?

No, absolutely not.

No matter how hard you tried, you couldn't overcome the limitations of Nonsan as a location.

They were all high-stakes gamblers throwing their last card. If their gamble failed, they became failures, that's all.

And the current general manager, vice CEO Choi Younghoon's winning move was to not do anything reckless. That's exactly the kind of person he is.

Even if I'm not the general manager, what should I do?

[Super Theme Park Tycoon]

I launched my favorite game. My PC specs were great, so it ran perfectly.

I looked over the theme parks I'd created. Of those, I'd posted the ones I thought turned out well to the game's fan club.

One of the most popular:

[Lotus Theme Park in the Middle of a Lake]

I designed the theme park as if it were a lake. The main point was combining the paths with the waterways.

In the center, I set a roller coaster shaped like a lotus, making it a statue-like symbol.

A kind of concept-themed park.

A theme beloved by many.

Just like David, the first manager, said, this might be the only way to save 'Next Planet.'

What's needed to find it? Maybe a mindset of trying different concepts from the game, in reality.

Ironically, the most popular theme parks I made in-game always ended in bad endings.

Because they didn't fit the game system.

But in real life, it seems what failed in the game is exactly what's needed.

Thinking I was losing my mind, I gave my temple a little slap with my palm.

But the more I thought about it, the more convinced I became.

If anything, it was because it was reality that I should try to play it like a game.

"Am I crazy?"

I found myself mumbling alone, which I don't usually do.

Three out of the top ten theme parks in the fan club rankings were mine. I was the only one with more than two in the top ten.

By that standard, I was clearly the best person for the job.

For some reason, I smiled, a burst of confidence welling up in me.

***

Wow... my eyes kept closing by themselves.

Even though I'd overloaded on coffee and energy drinks, I was so worn out that I wanted to collapse straight into bed.

But I had no choice.

To participate in the Business Strategy Division meeting, I had to read through a mountain of theme park documents.

I had no idea how much I'd read. It reminded me of pulling all-nighters before college exams.

But once I entered the meeting room for the Business Strategy Division, my mind cleared immediately.

Perhaps it was the tense atmosphere.

The executive vice president, who was also the division director, the other two division directors, and the seven team leaders had all arrived before me.

The moment I opened the meeting room door, they all shot sharp gazes at me.

Some were hostile, others curious. The mixture of looks swept over my body.

But this was something I had to deal with.

I made my way to the so-called head seat in the U-shaped meeting room. The place fitting for someone at director level.

It was my first time sitting somewhere like this.

"Alright! Let's begin the Business Strategy Division's regular meeting for the second week of March."