“What did you say, sir? Even us?”

Stunned a lot, they just looked at Hyunwoo. Some of them obviously regretted that they brought them to the office, but Hyunwoo thought that those who were given the chance and didn’t make any tangible progress had one of the two reasons, namely they were lacking in talent or passion. Either way, they had no reason to stay with Ani & Funny anymore. Now, he clearly realized what to do with them thanks to the new students who came into the office suddenly.

There were numerous students with ambition for animation in the world. Given that the internet animation cafe had 150,000 members, at least 1% of them could be those with tremendous passion, Hyunwoo thought.

And some of these talented students might be looking for a chance at Ani & Funny. With proper promotion of Ani & Funny, there might be hundreds or thousands of students coming to Ani & Funny.

Of course, Hyunwoo couldn’t accept them all. He had to set up certain standards to select them.

Hyunwoo said as if he wanted to show them his principled policy, “I don’t think my decision is the best, and I can change it if I find a better decision later, but it is something I should take personal responsibility for. I don’t want to launch any business that I can’t be responsible for.”

They didn’t reply.

Hyunwoo continued, “When I said I should take the responsibility, I didn’t mean I would like to take responsibility for your future. I just wanted to give you a chance, so you can seize it when the opportunity comes along. So, do your best to seize the chance.”

They were still speechless, showing confusion about his sudden announcement.

With a determined voice Hyunwoo declared this time, “Even if you leave here, that doesn’t mean your dream is over. I just hope you can cultivate your talent at other places even though you could not do so here Ani & Funny.”

They didn’t say anything, though.

Hyunwoo prodded on them by saying, “Why are you guys speechless like that? Are you not confident enough to show me your talent?”

Only then did they reply in a feeble voice, “Well, understood.”

Hyunwoo looked at the new students again, who were all the tenser than before.

“What we need now is your planning ability. I think I can select those who show that.”

He asked Kyungsu and Sanggyu to judge their talents. They chose Hyunwoo’s exclusive office to conduct the tests.

Looking at them, Hyunwoo agonized a bit.

“There are lots of students with great talents. Ani & Funny could be the best animation company in the world if we could discover them and cultivate their talents.’

The problem was how to discover them.

There must be some good way. As long as I find it, I’m confident I can conquer the animation world.

The next day Hyunwoo headed to Todolyipyo, the alternative music school to attend a meeting about music video production.

The principal and other faculty members were waiting for Hyunwoo.

Among them was Soyun Han.

After exchanging brief greetings, they began the discussion.

They chose a dance song called ‘Temptation’ as the finalist.

Though the bouncing rhythm of the song was similar to that of Duckling Fly, its overall atmosphere was rather different. Unlike Duckling Fly which created the atmosphere of an elastic ball bouncing on the floor, ‘Temptation’ felt like a dance song intended for a beautiful woman to dance to tempt a man.

Hyunwoo felt it would be better to make a music video to the effect that a woman with a strong sexual appeal danced to tempt a man.

I think I have to find a beautiful female dancer first.

When he thought as far as that, one woman came to his mind. She was none other than Soyun Han.

In addition to her beauty, she was known as a sexy dancing girl during her prime time as an entertainer. If she could participate in the music video, she would be the perfect dancer for the music.

“How about the dance song? Do you like it?” asked the principal.

“Well, I don’t know much about music, but I feel it’s very sexy. I think if we can shoot the music video to that effect, it could be as appealing as Duckling Fly.”

“We see eye to eye with you on that. The moment we listened to it, we conjured up the image of a lady dancing to tempt a man.”

Hyunwoo presented his own idea on the music video.

Just like Duckling Fly, he said he planned to use animation in the music video, where a beautiful woman would play the main role as a dance while animation characters back her up in the background.

Of course, he didn’t mention Soyun.

The faculty reacted favorably to his idea. Even Soyun supported his idea with a particularly charming smile.

“Very good idea!”

“Wow, as a professional in the field you appreciate its value,” said Hyunwoo.

“No, no. I’m not. By the way, I think the role of a dancer is very important if the music video can make a hit. Is the singer good at dancing, too?”

“Well, she is wheelchair-bound. She was supposed to attend the meeting today, but couldn’t because of her family matter.”

Hyunwoo made a regretful expression.

“I think we have to find another woman as a dancer. Can we find one who is beautiful and good at dancing as well?” asked Hyunwoo, looking askance at Soyun slightly.

The teachers present there also cast a glance at her naturally.

At that moment, she trembled as if she was surprised.

“I wish you didn’t waste your time on persuading me,” she said resolutely.

They let out a sigh slightly after confirming her rejection.

“Who would be a good candidate then?”

They all made a perplexed expression. Though there were many female dancers in the school, nobody could digest the role of a beautiful woman of Temptation.

There was no point in agonizing over that issue as they could not find a good candidate immediately.

“Let’s create a dance that fits the song first. We can find the dancer slowly,” said Hyunwoo.

“Sure, that sounds good.”

After the meeting, Hyunwoo left the school. Still, he was focused on Soyun as the potential dancer.

She is the perfect dancer for the music.

***

Several days later at the office of Ani & Funny, the staff there had blank expressions on their faces when forty students arrived at the office.

All of them were members of the animation internet cafe. They came to the office on the rumor that Ani & Funny was accepting talented students.

As the office space was small, they fully packed the office.

Hyunwoo was surprised to find so many students studying animation in Ansan alone.

Hearing their explanation, however, they were not just from Ansan but from Seoul and elsewhere.

“I came from Seoul.”

“I came from Incheon.”

Some of them came from Pyongtaek, Suwon, Chonan, Daejon, while others came a long way from Daegu and Pusan. When some of them expressed on the internet that they were going to Ansan to have an audition, other students decided to join them.

With a perplexed look, Hyunwoo said, “Even if you pass the test, how can you come to this place for practice when you live far from here?”

The students answered without hesitation, “Well, we can quit school.”

In other words, they were determined to bet their lives on animation.

Come to think of it, they should have been in the classroom now. Actually, they skipped class and came to the office instead.

Hyunwoo said in a rebuking tone, “No way! You shouldn’t give up your studies so easily.”

But they didn’t budge a bit at all. When they entered the office they got cold feet a bit, but they became bold when Hyunwoo rebuked them.

“We all decided to devote ourselves to animation.”

“There is nothing they can teach us about animation. We’re sleeping in the classrooms because we learn at the private academy on animation. What’s the point of going to that kind of school anyway? We gave up studies, to be honest.”

Hyunwoo tried to persuade them, though.

“Hey, you guys have to think about your parents. They must feel very sad.”

“Actually, we got our parents’ consent just in case you said as much,” said the students, showing him their parents’ consent paper.

Still, Hyunwoo was not persuaded. It was not that simple a problem. Even if he wanted to accept them, it was impossible, given the narrow space of the office.

“Didn’t you find out on the internet cafe that our office was very small? As you know, we’re fully packed now.”

“We heard that the candidates who fail to meet your standards will be forced out on a regular basis. Why don’t you select us in advance then accept us in due course? We can wait for a couple of months.”

“What about your accommodations? You don’t want me to pay for your lodging, do you?”

“No problem. We can share the rooms at our own expense.”

Hyunwoo pointed out various problems, but they came up with the proper solution as if they were fully prepared.

Hyunwoo admired their strong passion. Though he couldn’t support their idea of quitting school, he wanted to praise their enthusiasm.

Suddenly, he thought of Jinhon Kwak, who dropped from high school and attended the alternative music school Todolyipyo.

In fact, the students who came to his office today were in the same boat with Jinhon. Instead of going to school mechanically without any clear purpose, they wanted to pursue their own path in life and challenge it with enthusiasm.

In some respect, they could be lumped in with the likes of Hyunwoo as well