Life is Easier If You're Handsome novel Chapter 326

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

The thoughts I had in the Disney meeting room still won’t leave my mind.

“Are we seriously going independent?”

Going independent just to make one project? Of course that’s impossible.

What kind of independence is that, when we’ve already been acquired? It’s realistically impossible.

Now, all copyrights for works produced under Marvel belong to Disney.

Not just that—

From deciding the budget onward, all authority simply belonged to Disney.

But even so—

“It’s not like there’s no way at all.”

Disney’s live-action films have been suffering massive losses lately, shaking the whole company. On top of that, public opinion keeps deteriorating. Using the multiverse as an excuse, there were more than enough chances to push out a new project.

If there was one downside, It would be that it might take a bit of time. And the thought hit me—

Would Kim Donghu actually wait that long?

Roughly two more months passed.

June 5, 2025.

Finally, Disney’s live-action film <Snow White> was pulled from theaters.

“...This number is real?”

The raw sales figures slammed into the Disney meeting room.

***

『Snow White, estimated maximum loss around 408 billion won?』

『Consecutive box office failures—Is Disney’s live-action strategy still viable?』

『A string of letdowns! Excessive worldbuilding and over-the-top PC ideology flood the live-actions!』

『Following internal deliberations, Disney announces “temporary suspension of live-action films”』

『A new beginning? Is this really happening?』

『PC ideology has never succeeded even once—Disney in emergency mode』

『Is their “justice” rooted in twisted ideals? Disney’s devastating losing streak』

As they continued racking up unbelievable losses, some in Disney’s upper management had no choice but to admit it.

“...It doesn’t make money.”

Of course, it’s not like they were making projects purely for profit. More accurately, when they polished a project’s quality, the money naturally followed.

But recently, that wasn’t happening.

Wasn’t embracing diversity supposed to make it more trendy?

They believed they’d followed the DEI (how PC are you?) standards well enough.

They even made it mandatory that over 50% of the production team be women or people of color, yet the results were still underwhelming.

So what was the problem?

Was it that the people who worked on the films didn’t actually care about movies and were just busy cramming in ideology?

And those thoughts of theirs were actually completely out of touch with what most of the world thought?

“Yeah... well, I mean, we all knew.”

They’d known, but the idea of “we’ve started, so we have to see it through” had been stronger. They’d only now realized they couldn’t keep it up anymore.

No—

It wasn’t that they shouldn’t keep going. They literally couldn’t.

Everything they thought made them the mainstream—

“...240,000 dislikes in the shortest time ever, huh. That’s a record too.”

Was now being outright rejected.

“...”

“...”

“...”

As soon as Disney CEO Rip Iron opened his mouth, a chilling silence settled over the meeting room.

“We did everything we could, and even then the results were this bad... Well, then we need to stop.”

Of course, that was just for now.

There were still plenty of people who wanted to push PC ideology. More precisely, there were a lot of people who still wanted to insert their personal beliefs into movies.

To Rip, it was all the same thing.

“...Let’s leave the worlds we can’t change alone for now.”

Slide.

Rip’s gaze turned to Melvin.

“I think we can change the ones that can be changed, though, right?”

He remembered a report from a few months back. Back then, they hadn’t seen the real numbers yet, so they had pushed the discussion to a later time. But seeing how things were now, even that might be too late.

“If we start now and move quickly, how long will it take?”

“...Are you referring to the one starring Kim Donghu?”

“Yes, that one. If I give you full authority, how possible is it?”

Full authority. That phrase only came up after passing through layers of complex meetings.

Normally—

You had to design the universe, decide the director, writer, and cast, secure the budget and production schedule, plan the marketing, the release method, the OTT strategy—

You had to pass through all those stages of project evaluation, then go through midterm review, and finally receive final approval. But now, they were talking about deciding all of that in an emergency meeting called because of <Snow White>.

Naturally—

“Wait, isn’t that a bit too sudden?”

“We’re here to talk about Snow White’s losses... Why are we suddenly jumping to a Donghu Kim movie?”

Some pushed back.

“That’s why I’m the one saying it. Because I’m the one who’s willing to take full responsibility for all of it.”

Rip casually dismissed their objections.

If I just closed my eyes for a moment—

“Oppa, what are you thinking about so hard?”

That moment was still crystal clear.

***

The Academy Awards are usually held in March.

The 2025 ceremony reviewed works released in 2024. There was no way <Murcielago> could be left out. Naturally, our whole team attended.

“This is my first time here.”

“Same.”

“You too, oppa?”

“Yeah, but I feel like I’ll be coming here often now.”

Joking lightly with Chisako—

“Oooh, confidence!”

Poke poke.

I grabbed Chisako’s finger as she poked my side, gave her a quick kiss, and—

“Eh... eh... doing this in public... it’s a little... a little embarrassing, hehe...”

We took our assigned seats. The event kicked off with a flashy opening and the host’s introduction.

With Conan stepping in to lead the ceremony with his signature humor, the pre-planned comedy skits rolled out.

“Ohoho! And look who’s here—every single time I see this man, I am sincerely, seriously blown away! Just insanely handsome! Donghu Kim!”

Sometimes they steered the vibe with ad-libs.

“Donghu Kim and I go way back. He’s been on our show multiple times, has amazing comic timing, and just delivers outrageous fan service!”

“Hold up, Conan—are you bragging about your history with Donghu Kim? I can’t let that slide!”

“Mark! Mark, I get how you feel—but please! I’m hosting right now! Let me monopolize Donghu Kim for just a moment!”

After the brief icebreaker, the actual award ceremony began rolling nonstop.

The first awards handed out were for supporting roles and technical categories. And someone unexpected won—

“Congratulations. Murcielago’s Chisako Usami!”

Chisako had won Best Supporting Actress.

Honestly, even I hadn’t seen that coming. She suddenly walked up to the stage—

“I—I never imagined I’d win this... this is... such an honor... sniff... I want to thank so many people who helped me...”

Tears poured out. And from that moment, Murcielago’s unusual winning streak began.

Traditionally, the Academy hasn’t treated superhero films kindly. They focus more on artistry and often dismiss hero films as just commercial fluff.

But that trend had been shifting steadily in recent years. Some hero films had even made it into the ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ Best Picture nominations.

If Murcielago kept winning like this...

Just maybe—

“A new wind could be blowing through the Academy.”

It really felt like Murcielago was about to make history. And that thought filled my head.