"Mr. Ban. What exactly do you mean when you say there's a problem with soccer variety shows themselves?" I asked, unable to understand.

Ban Sung-Gyu explained, "There are two things. First, injuries. People underestimate soccer, but do you know which sport has the highest injury rate in Korea every year?"

Come to think of it, even on TVM's God of Soccer, actor Kim Sung-Hyun sprained his ankle in the second week and had to leave the program.

I nodded. "Well, Kim Sung-Hyun did leave the show with what they said was a three-week injury."

"No. That's at least a three-month injury."

"Excuse me?"

"PD Yang Se-Jong and the agency both agreed to say three weeks so they wouldn't get criticized. But judging by the angle of the ankle twist, it's definitely three months. Maybe longer."

Ban Sung-Gyu took a sip of the coffee on the table and continued. "God of Soccer gets most of its footage from talk segments rather than actual matches, and the format is mostly practice games and tryouts, so there aren't that many matches. Even then, injuries happened. But the show I'm planning would run a full league. That means the number of matches would naturally increase. Which also means injuries would increase."

"And the other problem?"

"This might actually be the biggest one. Soccer itself isn't suitable for variety shows."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Unlike baseball, soccer takes time before a goal happens, so it gets boring easily. You know how people say that unless it's your favorite team, the highlights are the most fun part of soccer? That's why God of Soccer focuses on talk and games instead of actual soccer."

In fact, God of Soccer rarely aired more than ten minutes of a practice match. The rest of the runtime was filled with MC banter, cast updates, and mini-games like heading the ball to hit someone's head. In other words, it wasn't really a 'soccer variety show' but it was a variety show with a spoonful of soccer added.

"Anyway, solving those two problems comes first. The investment sounds tempting, but if I make a program without solutions for those issues, I'd just be acting like a crook. So let's make it once those problems are solved."

Ban Sung-Gyu said he was tempted by the idea of a soccer variety show but refused because he didn't want to cause me trouble. However, he was wrong. Before I regressed, the soccer variety show he planned became a huge hit because of the 'drama' created through the matches and the 'growth story' of each celebrity player improving their skills.

However, if those two issues were the problem, I already had the answer. Because before I regressed, Ban Sung-Gyu himself had solved them. As someone who had regressed, the only thing left to do was borrow the answer sheet from the future Ban Sung-Gyu for a moment.

"Then how about doing futsal instead of soccer?" I suggested.

Just like he said, there had been injuries in Our League before I regressed. But in Our League: Futsal Edition, which was created after that show's success, injuries dropped dramatically.

Unlike soccer, which was played on a large field, futsal was played on a small court less than half the size of a soccer field, so the physical burden was lower. The ball was also smaller and less bouncy, so it caused less damage when it hit someone. There were five players on the court, but there were unlimited substitutions, making it easier to manage stamina and reduce injury risks.

Most importantly, there were more goals, which made it more entertaining. In other words, it solved every problem Ban Sung-Gyu had just mentioned.

Ban Sung-Gyu's face immediately brightened. "You came up with a pretty good answer, Chief Jung. But futsal can still have minor injuries."

"Then what if every player is required to stretch thoroughly before matches, and physical contact is strictly regulated? And we install something like VAR as well, so warnings are given strictly."

Before I regressed, Ban Sung-Gyu had always made everyone stretch properly before futsal matches. He had also strictly banned shoulder charges and tackles according to futsal rules. As a result, injuries had become extremely rare.

Ban Sung-Gyu looked surprised. "Huh. Where did you even hear about futsal rules? Using VAR in futsal is something that's only started happening recently..."

'Sorry, but those were all ideas you came up with before I regressed.'

Ban Sung-Gyu thought for a moment, then mentioned the final obstacle. "Everything sounds good. That would solve all the problems. But..." He paused, then continued. "This summer, because of the futsal leagues, all the proper indoor arenas are already booked. There's nowhere to film."

'A futsal arena? We can just build one, even if it costs hundreds of millions.'

Since Our League: Futsal Edition became far more successful than Our League, that level of investment wouldn't be a problem.

"We can just build a futsal arena."

"Chief Jung, think carefully. If you're building an indoor arena big enough for a futsal court and a full broadcast staff, it'll cost a lot. We're not talking about one or two hundred million won."

When actors were cast in a production, they often signed contracts restricting outside activities. If they got a tan while filming and their skin tone changes, it could cause serious problems for the production.

However, there was a solution to that too.

"Then for now, let's rent the indoor artificial turf soccer field at Jinseong Resort in Yeongjongdo and play futsal on a half court. And since Project I.O.A will finish in a few weeks, how about turning that performance hall into a dedicated futsal arena?"

"Is that possible?"

"Yes. I'll take care of everything. There's also a lodging building there, so the staff can rest easily, and it already has broadcast transmission systems installed, so we could film several matches in a day. What do you think?"

Ban Sung-Gyu looked at me with disbelief. "What is this? Every time I mention a problem, an answer pops out? Do you have some kind of solution vending machine?"

'I don't have a vending machine. I'm just an ordinary regressor.'

Obviously I couldn't say that, so I simply scratched my head with an awkward smile.

Ban Sung-Gyu stared at me quietly for a moment before letting out a short laugh. "I only half believed the rumors lately about how impressive you are. Turns out the rumors didn't even do you justice."

After thinking for a moment, Ban Sung-Gyu drained the rest of his coffee and spoke. "I won today's match and now I'm even going to produce a program. My luck today is incredible."

"In that case..."

"Alright, let's do it! No, help me make it happen! KBC 2TV has an open slot in three weeks. Let's head to the station right now and lock down the schedule. What do you say?"

At last, Ban Sung-Gyu started taking the initiative. However, there was one thing I absolutely had to say.

"But there's one condition you must keep."

"What is it?"

"When the show airs, the matches themselves must never be manipulated. That's the condition for the production investment."

Variety show PDs often exaggerated or fabricated things to create more dramatic situations. The degree varied from person to person. Of course, Ban Sung-Gyu had never manipulated matches even before I regressed, but I said it just in case.

At that moment, Ban Sung-Gyu smirked. "So you even see right through the tricks of variety show PDs, huh? Alright. I promise."

'Good.'

Only then did I smile and reply. "Then let's go to KBC."

"Okay!"

I immediately told Lee Tae-Poong and Lee Dae-Ho, who were nearby, to come with us to KBC.

Then, Ban Sung-Gyu asked with a puzzled look. "But seriously... You said you never even played soccer. How do ideas like that just come to you so easily?"

His words about how someone who had never played soccer—and who was terrible at it—could know such detailed things made my heart skip a beat. However, I couldn't exactly say it was because I had regressed.

So I flared up and answered, "I like watching it!"

Even if I was terrible at soccer, I still had a little pride.

***

We parked in the KBC parking lot. After turning off the engine and stopping the car, the vehicle carrying Lee Tae-Poong and Lee Dae-Ho pulled into the spot next to us almost at the same time.

Just then, the back door of the van Lee Tae-Poong was riding in slid open roughly.

Clack.

"Hyung, look at this!"

Lee Tae-Poong ran over while holding up his phone.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Just take a look first."

Lee Tae-Poong held his phone up in front of my face.

[Popular celebrity Mr. L. The video of him doing 1,000 ball lifts on Instargem was actually edited? (Entertainment All Times)]

-Members of a soccer community claimed anonymously that Lee Tae-Poong's real skill isn't anywhere near that level. They presented circumstantial evidence strongly suggesting the agency edited the video...

When he posted the clip, Lee Tae-Poong had clearly written that he did the ball juggling in two sets of 500. Of course, he could do 1,000 if he pushed himself, but there was no reason to overdo it during practice. However, the article was maliciously belittling Lee Tae-Poong's ability.

The comments under the article were just as malicious.

(Comments)

-The ankle angle when he lifts the ball is ridiculous. If you do that the ball would bounce away immediately.

-Obviously 1,000 is a lie. I'll admit it if he can even do 100.

-When would an actor even have time to practice soccer? 1,000 lifts? Nobody believes that.

-Instead of editing videos like this, why doesn't the agency just release news about his next project? Why is there no next project?

-Lee Tae-Poong knows nothing about soccer.

-Tae-Poong oppa is actually good at soccer, you know? Didn't everyone know he used to dream of becoming a soccer player?

-Didn't ask, don't care. Nobody asked, nobody's listening.

-Why are you picking a fight? Want to die?

-Once again, I couldn't care less about what you have to say. Lee Tae-Poong sucks ass at soccer.

-Seriously! This is so annoying! The agency needs to explain something!

...

The article alone was enough to make someone angry, but seeing the comments started to make me irritated too. Just reading those phrases was enough to make my blood pressure rise.

Still, a talent agent couldn't lose his temper along with his actor, so I tried to calm him down as much as possible.

"Don't worry. Once you appear on the new show, articles like this will disappear quickly."

However, Lee Tae-Poong still couldn't calm down. "How can I just let something like this go? They're calling me terrible! Can't we sue them or something?"

Honestly, this was the first time I had ever seen Lee Tae-Poong this angry. Even when he saw malicious comments saying his acting was bad after debuting, he had only looked discouraged—never angry. Even the nickname "Bad David" had only earned a bitter smile from him.

To see him this furious over comments saying he was bad at soccer caught me a little off guard, but I tried to calm him again.

"I'll contact the reporter and have the article taken down. Then all the comments will disappear too."

"Alright. Then please take it down quickly."

Lee Tae-Poong was fuming so much that I carefully asked, "But why are you this angry? You didn't get this mad when people said you couldn't act."

"That's completely different."

"How is it different?"

Lee Tae-Poong scratched his head in frustration. "Hyung. You were part of the national boxing reserve team, right?"

"Yeah."

"If someone told you that you were bad at boxing, wouldn't that make you angry?"

"Not really. Anyone who said that ended up lying flat on the ground."

Lee Tae-Poong paused. Then, he straightened up and continued, "Then what if some high school bully went around telling everyone he could beat you?"

"Come on. No way anyone would be crazy enough to do that."

"So let's say he is crazy. He doesn't show his face, just sends annoying emojis through Kk Talk saying things like 'water punches,' 'cotton punches,' 'sucks ass,' 'you can't beat me,' 'you're nothing compared to me.' Wouldn't that make you mad?"

Lee Tae-Poong acted it out vividly. It felt a bit exaggerated, but the more I listened, the more annoyed I started to feel.

"Yeah... I guess it would make me a little angry," I admitted.

"See? You're getting mad too, right? That's exactly how I feel right now."

"Alright, I get it. Then let's post the goal you scored in today's match on Instargem."

I immediately asked Lee Dae-Ho, "Did you happen to film the goal Tae-Poong scored with the half-volley?"

"No. I was filming until right before that, but the battery died, so it was charging. I'm sorry."

Lee Tae-Poong spoke with a disappointed expression. "Ugh! Dae-Ho hyung. How could you miss that masterpiece?"

Before Lee Tae-Poong could get more disappointed, I tapped his shoulder. "Tae-Poong. Once we finish the program scheduling meeting, let's film the shot again together and upload it."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Then hyung, you play goalkeeper."

"Alright."

"Yes!"

Lee Tae-Poong clenched his fist, showing his determination. I never thought my actor would be more obsessed with soccer than acting.

'Tae-Poong, you're an actor, not a soccer player.'

Lee Tae-Poong was already striking poses and kicking at the air, saying he would show a hurricane shot later. To think something could drive someone this crazy was quite surprising.

'Soccer might be a more dangerous sport than I thought.'

***

At the KBC Variety Department meeting room, Programming Director Chae Jin-Sung and the newly appointed head of variety welcomed us.

Kwak Hye-Jin, the new head of variety, was forty-five this year. As soon as the greetings ended, she looked at us with a strict expression. She was known for being extremely self-protective and someone who never wanted to take even the slightest loss. Her rigid personality had earned her the nickname "Director Tight," and even before I regressed, I had clashed with her many times.

Still, since we had secured both the production budget and a star actor for the program, the two most important elements, I wasn't too worried.

Just then, Kwak Hye-Jin adjusted the horn-rimmed glasses resting on the bridge of her nose and asked sharply, "So you're saying you want to produce a soccer variety show to counter God of Soccer? And not even soccer on a field, but futsal?"

Ban Sung-Gyu answered excitedly. "Yes, ma'am. We've already secured the investment, production team, and set. Happy Animal ends in two weeks, so if you give us that time slot, we can start broadcasting in three weeks."

Happy Animal, the Friday evening variety show on KBC 2TV, was about to end early because its viewership ratings never exceeded 3%. Ban Sung-Gyu said he wanted to place the soccer variety show Working Title: Our League in that slot.

However, Kwak Hye-Jin immediately shook her head. "That will be difficult."

'What? We prepared everything, so why is it difficult?'

Sure enough, Ban Sung-Gyu immediately pushed back. "Why? There isn't even a proper program ready to fill the slot after Happy Animal. We already have the production budget, a solid concept, and even top star Lee Tae-Poong appearing as the main cast."

Ban Sung-Gyu emphasized that everything was perfectly prepared.

Then Chae Jin-Sung, the forty-seven-year-old programming director, spoke calmly. "PD Ban. Actually, there is already a program scheduled for that slot."

"What is it?"

"You know Local Legends of Our Neighborhood, right? The one that aired four episodes on Neotube. We're putting that show into the slot after Happy Animal."

KBC had currently released four episodes of Local Legends of Our Neighborhood on Metube. It was a program that searched for unusual people in different neighborhoods and interviewed them, and in just four episodes it was already hitting over 300,000 views per episode.

"As Mr. Chae said, the decision has been made. Let's discuss it again another time."

Kwak Hye-Jin clearly didn't want to take risks with the first broadcast after her appointment and was carefully dodging the issue. That self-preserving attitude hadn't changed at all from before I regressed.

At that moment, Ban Sung-Gyu hit his chest in frustration. "It's successful because it's on Metube! The odd characters are part of it, sure, but the MC Jo Dong-Cheol is popular because his talk barely crosses the line. If you bring that exactly to terrestrial TV, it's going to cause serious problems."

As Ban Sung-Gyu said, before I regressed, Local Legends of Our Neighborhood had indeed failed after moving to KBC 2TV. And both the directing PD and Jo Dong-Cheol ended up constantly being called in by the Broadcasting Standards Commission.

I was about to add something myself when Kwak Hye-Jin frowned and said, "That's not the only reason! There's another decisive reason we can't schedule it."

"What is it?"

Then unexpectedly, Kwak Hye-Jin pointed at me with her chin. "I heard Chief Jung has been completely blacklisted by President Song of CK. If we schedule a program involving Chief Jung, what are we supposed to do afterward? All the CK affiliate advertising will disappear. I'm not taking responsibility for that."

She was saying she couldn't approve the program because it might start a war with CK Entertainment because of me.

I was about to confront the new director when Ban Sung-Gyu pressed my hand under the table.

Squeeze.

It was a signal telling me to wait because he would speak.

I hesitated for a moment. Then, Ban Sung-Gyu glared and said something far more aggressive than anyone expected.

"Did the two of you receive money from CK?"

The faces of Kwak Hye-Jin and Chae Jin-Sung instantly turned bright red.

'Wow. That was a pretty heavy shot.'