Chapter 393: Nine Empresses
Just past ten o'clock, a knock on the office door interrupted the conversation between President Li and Zheng Xu.
"Come in."
President Li's secretary then pushed the door open.
"President Li, Chairman Jiang has arrived at the office."
"Chairman Jiang is here." Hearing this, President Li turned to look at Zheng Xu, "President Jung, shall we go over?"
"Alright." Zheng Xu stood up.
Zhang Yuanying also stood up upon seeing this.
"President Li, am I still going?" Zhang Yuanying asked, pointing to herself.
"You come too."
"Yes."
The three of them went to Jiang Shu's office together.
Upon entering, they saw Jiang Shu with his back to the door, drinking water.
"You're here." Jiang Shu put down his cup and looked at the three, "Have a seat."
Jiang Shu carried a glass of water to the sofa and sat down, looking at Zheng Xu on his right.
"How was the discussion between President Jung and our President Li?"
"Won-young xi has already agreed, it's just Karina and Yuna..." Zheng Xu smiled, leaving the rest unsaid.
"Xiao Yuan, Xiao Liu, and Yuna can all collaborate with Xue Yun, but DM Entertainment will provide the collaboration plan," Jiang Shu said with a smile.
"Ah?" Zheng Xu was stunned. Is he being such a pushover?
No!
Jiang Shu was never one to suffer losses; he must have another motive.
"What does Chairman Jiang mean by this?"
"I won't hide it from President Jung. Next year, we will launch a limited group, drawing artists from our various groups and solo artists to form a large limited girl group. The jang ka-yoo-seol that President Jung hopes for are all on the list," Jiang Shu said with a chuckle.
President Li glanced at Jiang Shu. She naturally knew about this matter, but it was still in the preparation stage, and since Jiang Shu hadn't given any instructions, she hadn't said much.
Zhang Yuanying looked at Jiang Shu in surprise.
A large limited girl group?
What is this again?
Artists from different groups collaborating together?
"A large limited girl group?" Zheng Xu was startled upon hearing this. "Aren't you preparing to debut two new girl groups? And now another limited girl group? Can you manage to operate them all?"
Excluding previous girl groups, just two new girl groups and this limited group means operating three groups simultaneously, and they're all girl groups?
DM Entertainment is indeed a big company, but your resources can't be that abundant, can they?
"Well, there's also your JYP," Jiang Shu said with a smile.
"Our resources are also limited," Zheng Xu said, raising an eyebrow.
"But you are also beneficiaries of Xue Yun's marketing, so not contributing some resources won't do."
That is a problem.
It wasn't that Zheng Xu wouldn't contribute resources, he just didn't want to give resources to this limited girl group. No matter how much they gave, they wouldn't get much profit.
"Our resources are only for Xue Yun."
"No problem." Jiang Shu readily agreed.
"Do you have the list?"
"Yes." Jiang Shu responded, stood up, took a document from the folder, and handed it to Zheng Xu.
Zhang Yuanying also wanted to see the list, but with President Li and Zheng Xu present, she resisted her curiosity and sat quietly in her place.
Girls' Generation?
"Girls' Generation?" Zheng Xu opened the folder and saw the name of this limited group.
Then he saw the list of group members.
Leader: Kim Tae-yeon.
Main Vocalist: Kim Tae-yeon, Sun Shengwan, Xue Yun.
Visual: Liu Zhimin, Zhang Yuanying, Bae Joo-hyun, Shin Yuna, Xue Yun.
Main Dancer: Shin Ryujin, Kang Seul-gi, Shin Yuna.
"Chairman Jiang's ambition is truly grand," Zheng Xu couldn't help but exclaim.
These nine people could be said to be half of DM Entertainment's current empire. The combined popularity of these nine people is almost comparable to a top-tier group.
"Since it's a limited group, it's naturally about how to grab attention," Jiang Shu said with a chuckle.
He didn't just pick people randomly; the choices were made by combining existing bonds with current popularity.
First, there are the four S-rank members: Liu Zhimin, Zhang Yuanying, Bae Joo-hyun, and Kim Tae-yeon. These four alone can activate six bonds.
Adding the remaining five members, a total of ten bonds can be activated!
Liu Zhimin and Zhang Yuanying's "Center" bond.
Bae Joo-hyun and Kang Seul-gi's "Kylin" bond.
Kim Tae-yeon and Sun Shengwan's "Main Vocalist" bond.
Shin Ryujin, Shin Yuna, and Xue Yun's "Special Forces" bond.
Zhang Yuanying's personal "Yuan You Hui" bond.
Bae Joo-hyun's personal "divine beauty" bond.
Kang Seul-gi's personal "ACE" bond.
Kim Tae-yeon's personal "Trustworthy Tae" and "Limit Break" bonds.
And one most important bond.
Kim Tae-yeon's Nine Empresses bond!
There have only ever been two top-tier bonds in this game: one from Girls' Generation and one from TWICE.
Compared to TWICE's top-tier bond, Girls' Generation's Nine Empresses bond can be activated manually, changing from exclusive to non-exclusive, though with reduced effects.
But no matter how much it's weakened, it's still a top-tier bond, a genuine Girls' Generation bond.
The Empress bond is divided into Eight Empresses and Nine Empresses, both of which are exclusive bonds.
The Eight Empresses' effect is far from a top-tier bond; only the Nine Empresses can be considered a top-tier bond.
And the Nine Empresses also have a state where it can be manually converted into a non-exclusive bond state.
Nine Empresses (Non-Exclusive)
Activation Condition 1: Must have nine members.
Activation Condition 2: Must have one Empress bond holder among the nine members.
Activation Condition 3: Personnel configuration must include five Main Vocalists and five Main Dancers. (Note: Both Main Vocalist and Main Dancer standards must be above the current idol average. A Main Vocalist bond holder can be counted as two Main Vocalists.)
Activation Condition 4: Among the nine members, there should be no fewer than three top-tier popularity members. (Note: Based on the current idol industry popularity hierarchy.)
Activation Condition 5: Among the nine members, there must be one divine beauty bond holder.
Activation Condition 6: The company's rating at debut must be top-tier in the industry. (Note: The company's rating must be equal to or higher than any of S.M, JYP, or YG.)
The manual activation conditions for the Nine Empresses are extremely stringent, but at least they leave a glimmer of hope for activation.
The game was created too late, such that the Girls' Generation artists' ages had already exceeded the idol scope, which is why the developers concocted this incomplete Girls' Generation "Nine Empresses" bond.
But even an incomplete "Nine Empresses" bond is powerful enough, and the activation conditions were already prepared.
Condition 1 is easy. For Condition 2, Kim Tae-yeon is present. For Condition 3, Kim Tae-yeon and Sun Shengwan alone count as four, and adding Xue Yun makes it more than enough. If really necessary, Bae Joo-hyun and Kang Seul-gi can also be counted.
Bae Joo-hyun is just too beautiful, making people think she's a pretty face, but in reality, Bae Joo-hyun's singing and dancing skills are not bad. It's not her fault if her talent is overshadowed.
With Sun Shengwan and Kang Seul-gi in the team, their vocals and dance skills completely overshadow everyone else.
