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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 10
Chapter Title: The First Contract
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Seojun and his mother were looking at the laptop. The screen was still scrolling by so fast that Seojun couldn't make out a thing, but thankfully, Seo Eunhye explained everything to him one by one.
Seo Eunhye didn't think Seojun would understand. But he chimed in with appropriate gurgles, which made telling him all the more fun.
"Wow. So it has no effect after 20 months."
Though she was the one who had filmed it, the internet was full of information about the video that Seo Eunhye didn't know. She was particularly surprised by a post stating that the effect varied depending on the baby's age in months.
"Aboo!"
'It must be because [Fairy's Sparkle] is a low-grade ability.'
There were quite a few abilities that made people imitate others, but they required a corresponding amount of mana. It was too much for Seojun, who was only eight months old.
"Lots of other baby mukbangs have been uploaded, too?"
That's how trends were. When someone started something, everyone else would follow.
But unlike Seojun's video, the other babies' eating videos had no effect. A baby might eat by coincidence once or twice, but the truth would become clear by the second day.
"They say everyone only watches your videos, Seojun. You're so amazing!"
Seojun's shoulders puffed up at his mother's praise.
Seo Eunhye surfed the internet for a while before looking up. The clock had already passed 10 PM. Lee Minjun, who usually came home at 7, was late.
"Daddy's late."
"Abooboo."
Today, Lee Minjun had taken a half-day off from work to go discuss the CF contract with Elephant. After receiving the contract, he was supposed to meet a lawyer friend to look it over.
"Looks like he's having a few drinks while meeting his friend."
"Oobooboo."
Seojun flopped onto the teddy bear next to him. It was already 10 o'clock. He was getting sleepy.
Seo Eunhye picked Seojun up. As she gently patted his back, his eyes grew heavy. Seojun's eyelids slowly drooped.
Beep-beep-beep-beep.
The timing couldn't have been worse.
Click-
the door opened. At the sound, Seojun's eyes flew open. Seo Eunhye stifled a sigh.
"Daddy's home!"
his father said, his face flushed. Seeing Lee Minjun extend his arms to hold Seojun, Seo Eunhye waved her hands dismissively.
"Go wash up first."
"...Alright."
After quickly washing up, Lee Minjun sat across from Seo Eunhye. It seemed he hadn't drunk much, as his eyes looked clear. Now wide awake, Seojun played with his teddy bear beside the couple.
Lee Minjun took out the contract. It was a copy, not the original.
Difficult words and phrases were marked with a pen, with annotations written below. Lee Minjun explained the contract based on what he had heard from the Elephant team leader and his lawyer friend.
"So, the shooting time will be about 30 minutes while Seojun eats, and if they need more, they'll do an additional shoot on the same day. Of course, only after Seojun has fully digested his food."
Given Seojun's eating schedule, they would have to wait at least two to three hours after one shoot before they could film again.
"It'll be comfortable for Seojun, but the others will have to wait for so long. That means they'll want to finish in one take if possible… Can they really film it in 30 minutes?"
"They said it just needs to turn out like the N-tube video. They can handle the rest with editing, captions, and narration."
Seo Eunhye nodded in relief at Lee Minjun's words. The N-tube video had been filmed and uploaded without any retakes. Lee Minjun continued.
"They said if we send them a picture of where Seojun usually eats, they'll try to make the background as similar as possible."
"Wow. They're being that considerate? That's great."
"First, it'll be uploaded to places like N-tube ads, and later it will air as a TV commercial. The contract is for about three months."
The terms were much better than she had expected, and Seo Eunhye's face brightened. She had been worried it would be too hard on Seojun, but if they were this considerate, it seemed manageable.
"This sounds perfect, doesn't it? What did your friend say?"
"He said there are no toxic clauses, and it looks fine."
"Should we do the commercial then?"
Lee Minjun nodded in response to Seo Eunhye's question. Seojun nodded his head too. The parents, who happened to see it, laughed.
"Looks like Seojun is on board too."
"Then it's decided!"
Lee Minjun went to find a black pen. Then he took out the original copy of the contract.
"You just need to sign here."
"Okay."
Seo Eunhye wrote her name, and Lee Minjun wrote his. After a moment of thought, Seo Eunhye brought some red paint from the room that served as Seojun's toy storage and the couple's walk-in closet.
"What's that for?"
"Since it's Seojun's CF, Seojun's signature should be on it too. This is paint made from natural ingredients. I bought it on sale a while ago for when he's a bit older, for sensory play. Since Seojun can't sign his name, he should at least leave a thumbprint."
Seo Eunhye brought a small dish from the kitchen and squeezed a little of the red paint into it. Then she sat Seojun on her lap.
Seo Eunhye dipped Seojun's right thumb into the paint.
"Wait, wait a second! Let's take a picture to commemorate his first contract!"
Lee Minjun quickly grabbed his camera and started snapping away. As if that wasn't enough, he started recording a video. Seo Eunhye pressed the baby's thumb below the couple's signatures.
On the CF contract, the signatures of the father and mother, and the baby's red thumbprint, were stamped.
* * *
Seojun opened his eyes. He must have fallen asleep at some point. He spread his hands wide and looked at his palms; a faint red stain still remained on his thumb.
Remembering his mother's words that it would be gone by tomorrow, Seojun clenched and unclenched his little fists.
After staring at his hands for a moment, Seojun looked up. Before him was a blue door. It was the very door he had opened before.
"Is this the only one so far?"
Seojun swung his hand to the right. A door larger than the blue one appeared. Even when he pushed it with his palm, the firmly shut door wouldn't open. He waved his hand again and opened the blue door.
Seojun slowly crawled around, examining the books.
"Did I read up to here?"
Books that hadn't been put away on the shelves were scattered on the floor.
"Hmm. Maybe I should create an automatic cleaning spell?"
He tilted his head but soon decided that marking his progress this way wasn't so bad.
Besides, it was difficult to do anything in this baby body.
Seojun started picking up and reading the books that came after the ones he had already read.
"Hmm, is there anything good?"
What would he need for the commercial shoot?
[Fairy's Sparkle - Low Grade] was effective, but only on babies up to 20 months old.
Unlike the mukbang, which only needed to work on babies, the Elephant formula commercial had to appeal to the parents who had the purchasing power.
"For adults… hmm… what is there…"
Seojun diligently read through the books. The books, filled with many lives, were read in an instant.
There was a clear difference between his body in reality and his body in the library. Unlike his real baby body, in the library, he could read quickly, and his hands and body moved with ease.
But his eyes still hurt if he read for too long.
"Ah, my eyes."
As he rested for a moment, rubbing his aching eyes with his tiny palms, a thought occurred to Seojun. He remembered the Lich King doll his uncle had given him.
"If only I had a lich's hypnosis magic, this would be so easy…"
He already knew it was effective even through video, so with one hypnosis spell, selling out would be a piece of cake.
But unfortunately, the memories of a life on the level of a lich were behind a very, very large door. In his current state, Seojun couldn't even open it.
"Besides, a lich's magic is only of the evil (dark) alignment… so it's impossible…"
Having quickly given up on that idea, Seojun, who was practicing the good (light) alignment [Elf's Basic Breathing], went back to reading.
"Looks like I'll have to read all night… sigh…"
He couldn't find a suitable ability.
A considerable amount of time seemed to have passed. Seojun deliberated. Should he just give up and rest? Or should he search a little longer?
Just then, a book caught Seojun's eye. As he read the title in passing, a faded memory seeped into his mind. Huh?
"This was here?"
Seojun's eyes widened. He quickly opened the book and began to read. Reading it made the memories of that life feel much closer.
"This will be perfect!"
Having found an ability he liked, Seojun smiled brightly.
* * *
"Hello!"
Team Leader Choi Hyunji hurried over to greet them. Seo Eunhye, who was taking Seojun out of his car seat, greeted her back warmly. Lee Minjun got out of the passenger seat with a bag full of Seojun's things.
"I'm Choi Hyunji, the team leader of Elephant's planning department."
"Yes, hello. I'm Seo Eunhye, Seojun's mom."
Team Leader Choi Hyunji guided the family to the film set.
"There's still some time before the shoot, but you've arrived early!"
"We figured Seojun would need to get used to the unfamiliar set to do well in the shoot."
"Well, we're grateful for that!"
The studio was open and spacious. One side was decorated like a home living room, while the other was set up with cameras and lighting equipment.
People who looked like staff members were moving furniture in the living room and adjusting the lights.
As Seo Eunhye watched the new sight, the living room set caught her eye. She exclaimed in admiration.
"It looks exactly the same."
"Yes. We tried to decorate it as similarly as possible."
Seojun, too, looked at the living room, which was decorated almost identically to his own home, and let out a sound of awe.
"This is the waiting room. If Seojun gets uncomfortable, please feel free to come in and rest anytime."
When she opened the door, there was a room decorated with a rather warm feel.
There were dolls that babies would love, a small crib with a mobile hanging above it, a coffee pot, Elephant formula with a yellow elephant on it, a bottle sterilizer, and even diapers from various brands.
Moreover, there were sandwiches, coffee sticks, and snacks for the couple to eat. The preparations were so thorough that Seo Eunhye and Lee Minjun gasped in admiration.
"This is really nice."
"Yes. You can look around the set anytime. Or you can rest here until it's time to shoot. The director hasn't arrived yet… Ah, when you're looking around the set, please be careful of the various cables on the floor. And please hold Seojun tightly, as he might touch something dangerous."
Seo Eunhye and Lee Minjun nodded at Team Leader Choi Hyunji's words. The team leader then left the waiting room to prepare for the shoot.
As Lee Minjun unpacked Seojun's things, he said.
"I didn't expect them to prepare all this."
"I know, right? But these dolls are really cute."
Seo Eunhye, holding Seojun, admired the dolls gathered in one corner.
A fluffy yellow chick doll, a panda doll with big round eyes, a cluster of sparrow dolls, and more. They were a world apart from the dolls at home.
Lee Minjun laughed with a hint of resignation. In his hand was the only ordinary-looking stuffed animal from their house—the teddy bear he had just taken out of the bag.
"Seojun won't like them."
At his father's words, the mother looked at her son. Seojun showed no interest in the dolls in front of him. He was reaching out his arms toward the teddy bear his father had taken out. Lee Minjun gave Seojun the bear.
It was too much to keep holding him, so Seojun was placed in the provided crib along with the teddy bear.
"Aboobooboob."
'As expected, Uncle's doll is the best!'
While fiddling with the belly of the teddy bear that held the doppelganger doll, Seojun glanced down at his own belly with a meaningful look. It now contained the secret weapon for the commercial that he had found in the Library of Life.
'Huh? Why is my head drooping…?'
Unable to support the weight of his head, Seojun planted his forehead right into the teddy bear's belly.
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