Chapter 54: Karma
The moment ‘The End of Theft’ dropped, most viewers were clueless—until ‘one comment’ lit the fuse:
> [This is what that company does. They stole my idea early on.]
> ↳Real??
> ↳Yep. Search—you’ll find tons.
> ↳C.D.H.? You too??
> ↳How’d you know? Habitual offender?
> ↳I tried suing—legally untouchable. Gave up. Then Kim Si-woo does this.
> ↳Everyone robbed by Chocolate Ent—like this post.
Victims poured out.
Chocolate Entertainment was cornered.
“Post a clarification—‘investigating’—NOW!”
“On it!”
Phones wouldn’t stop.
“Unplug the lines. If reporters show, we know nothing.”
Park Dae-kyu called the ghost—Choi Dae-ho.
Ring… ring…
— “Hello?”
“Dae-ho. Your snowball’s an avalanche. What now?”
— “What do you want me to do? I’m not even credited on those videos.”
Park hung up.
Face hardened.
“Hong-jun. Everyone from production—and the list I sent. Conference room. Now.”
“Yes, sir.”
Alone, Park whispered:
— “If I can’t stop it… I let it go.”
***
On the third day after Kim Si-woo uploaded the web drama, Park Dae-kyu held a press conference.
“Hello. I’m Park Dae-kyu, CEO of Chocolate Entertainment.”
The moment he greeted them, reporters shouted questions and camera flashes burst wildly.
But Park Dae-kyu stood silently until the room quieted. Only then did he speak again.
“From this point on, any reporter who asks questions without being given the floor will be asked to leave. First, we will present our official statement.”
Park Dae-kyu acknowledged that Choi Dae-ho had stolen others’ ideas and twisted them into new content.
He also admitted that he, along with others, had turned a blind eye in pursuit of success.
Beyond that, he revealed additional corruption: employees embezzling ad budgets meant for YouTubers, taking extra money to run undisclosed ads, accepting payment to manipulate promotion for specific creators, and more.
“That concludes our statement. We’ll now take questions. The reporter in the green T-shirt, front row.”
“CBS, Lee Yi-song. Did you steal Kim Si-woo’s idea?”
“Yes.”
“Have you spoken to him?”
“Yes. He gave us a chance. We failed.”
“Compensation for victims?”
“Yes. Once each victim is verified, we will offer settlements and compensation. Next question.”
More questions followed regarding Kim Si-woo, Chocolate Enter’s contracted YouTubers, and the company’s future.
Park Dae-kyu answered each according to the script he had prepared.
***
News spread quickly—online and off—reaching Kim Si-woo in no time.
> [Chocolate Ent’s Crimes Exposed? Will Victims Be Compensated?]
> [Major MCN Shutting Down?]
> [Even 10M Writer Was Robbed?]
> [Is Chocolate Ent Finished?]
The internet exploded, and communities and YouTube burned with discussion.
Thanks to the uproar, Revenge Film’s subscriber count soared and views skyrocketed.
Revenue surged—but along with it came a downside.
Si-woo’s phone wouldn’t stop.
Friends, colleagues, parents—
— “Are you okay?!”
Si-woo sighed.
“Why do reporters keep using my name? …Travel, huh. Where to?”
***
While Si-woo planned a vacation, Park Dae-kyu worked fast to settle everything.
He filed charges where necessary, and for cases requiring settlement, he sent lawyers and staff to apologize and negotiate.
Company finances collapsed rapidly.
Employees protested, some quit, and many were anxious.
But Park Dae-kyu didn’t stop.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing!”
He grabbed Park Dae-kyu by the collar. Staff rushed to intervene, but Park raised a hand to stop them.
“There are too many eyes here. Let’s talk inside.”
Inside Park’s office, Dae-ho glared at him with betrayal.
“I built this company! How could YOU be the one to destroy it with your own hands?”
“Then why didn’t you take responsibility yourself?”
“…What?”
“If you had admitted your wrongdoing and posted an apology, we could’ve contained this internally. You were the one who refused.”
“Why would I! YouTubers disappear for six months and come back like nothing happened. Fire the manager responsible for the problem content and it’ll blow over! Time fixes everything—why would you—”
Park Dae-kyu shook his head at his selfishness.
“I’m retiring and moving to the countryside to open a chicken restaurant. You won’t survive in this industry either—so find a different path.”
“You crazy bastard.”
“Oh, and just so you know, the company will be filing a lawsuit against you as well. You caused the most damage. Also, you took more under-the-table money than I expected.”
“H-How did you—”
“Turns out a lot of people here don’t like you.”
With that, Park left the office.
Choi Dae-ho collapsed in place as if everything had been ripped away from him.
“Haha… This has to be a dream, right? No way… My company… my money… my reputation…”
***
Afterward, Chocolate Entertainment shrank overnight—from a major MCN to a mid-sized one.
Most of their big-name YouTubers terminated their contracts, and some who were on breaks even shut down their channels entirely.
Park Dae-kyu took responsibility and announced he would resign as CEO once the situation was resolved, and things slowly began to settle.
The victims received compensation, and Kim Si-woo was also paid a portion of the settlement funds.
Meanwhile, Choi Dae-ho was being sued by Chocolate Entertainment, and word of his misdeeds spread through the YouTube world, as well as the film, drama, and video-editing industries.
He was completely blacklisted.
Kim Si-woo, on the other hand, was currently being photographed nonstop—
Because the YouTube team members who came on the trip with him kept shoving a camera in his face.
“Come on, writer-nim! Smile!”
‘I am smiling…’
Grumbling internally at their constant demands, Si-woo forced the corners of his mouth up even more.
“Sigh… If taking pictures is this tiring, how exhausting will the rest of this trip be…”
A few days earlier, Si-woo had decided that his travel destination would be Busan.
He had never been there even once, so he planned a Busan trip after much deliberation.
‘I clearly meant to come alone… so why…’
“Alright! I’ll go over our Busan travel plan. On the first day—”
The person chattering beside him about the travel plans was one of his YouTube team members.
To celebrate the end of his revenge, he had decided to travel alone and also gave the team some vacation time—but most of them said they wanted to go with him.
Even when Si-woo refused, they clung to him persistently, and even Lee Yoo-jin sided with them.
And so, on the day of the trip, a large tour bus appeared in front of Si-woo’s house.
Is this… really how I’m supposed to travel?
The whole thing felt strange, but at least the team had planned everything themselves—Si-woo only needed to follow along.
“Yes! Oh, by the way, writer-nim—did you know they can’t understand standard Seoul dialect in Busan?”
Thwack.
“Gack—!”
One of the lighting crew had been fooling around and earned a punch from Si-woo.
“Alright, anyone who wants to get off the bus right now, speak up.”
“…No, sir.”
Everyone quickly avoided Si-woo’s gaze.
Since he was covering most of the travel costs, his authority remained as absolute as ever.
They boarded the bus, and after a long ride, arrived in Busan.
Aside from the dialect, Si-woo thought it wasn’t much different from Seoul.
Following the team member who made the travel plan, they moved to a hotel.
“Everyone meet outside again at 1 p.m.”
After a quick round of unpacking, they gathered outside—and the trip officially began.
They toured famous sights, ate at famous restaurants, and toured again.
By the second day, Si-woo separated from them.
“You guys go play on your own. I’m going back to sleep.”
“Okay!”
Without a word of concern, the team happily ran off.
It was only in the afternoon that Si-woo dragged his tired body out of bed.
“It’s cold… maybe I shouldn’t go out… No, I came all the way here. I should at least look around.”
After getting ready, Si-woo walked around the Haeundae area.
As expected of midwinter, the cold made long walks unbearable, so he ducked into a nearby café.
Ding.
“Welcome!”
The bell and an employee’s voice greeted him as he walked in.
“Haa… something warm…”
Just as he was about to order, Si-woo froze mid-sentence.
“What warm drink would you like?”
When he didn’t finish, the part-timer taking his order asked again.
Si-woo snapped back to reality.
“Ah… A hot lemon tea, please.”
“Yes, one hot lemon tea.”
After ordering, he took out his laptop and sat in a corner.
Is she a trainee?
The reason he hesitated while ordering—
The female part-timer was stunningly beautiful.
Even while writing with his lemon tea beside him, he kept glancing her way.
He wanted to ask if she was signed to an agency, but because he had never done something like that before, he couldn’t bring himself to speak up.
‘She’d be perfect as an actress… and she looks like… who was it…’
While he sat there blankly, trying to recall who she resembled, someone tapped his shoulder.
“Um… sir?”
“Ugh—yes?”
It was the same part-timer he’d been staring at.
“Um… the limit is an hour and a half per menu item. I’m really sorry.”
“Ah…”
Realizing he had already been there that long, Si-woo fumbled out his card.
“Then I’ll take two more lemon teas, three of your most expensive sandwiches, and three slices of your most expensive cake.”
“Ah—! Yes, one moment please!”
Startled by the sudden order, she hurried off with his card—
And Si-woo’s eyes widened as if something had clicked.
“Ah! Se-yeon.”
The part-timer looked very much like Jung Se-yeon.