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"Hmph!" Bim snorted. "What are you all doing during working hours?"
"Boss, we didn't want to slack off, but this magic trick is just too good. You end up watching it again and again!" the assistant said excitedly.
"I can't really explain it. Just come take a look, Boss. You'll understand."
"What nonsense," Bim said flatly. "Is working time meant for this kind of thing?"
He refused outright.
"I'm not watching. I won't watch even if you beat me to death."
As the boss, even if his subordinates were slacking off, he couldn't fall into the same trap.
He had to set an example.
A magic trick?
What could possibly be so impressive?
Ridiculous.
He was going to fire all of them tomorrow.
...
"...Hahaha..."
Some time later, a new slacker had joined the group.
After watching the video, Bim still wasn't satisfied. He wanted more.
The humor. The rhythm. The magic itself-seamless, flawless.
He couldn't figure out how a single trick was done.
Just as he was about to replay it, a thought hit him.
Wait.
What had he said earlier?
And what exactly was he doing now?
Bim froze.
A moment later, he snapped back to his senses, didn't bother chasing anyone away, and quietly returned to his office.
...
Inside his office, Bim felt a little ashamed.
He pulled out his phone, searched for the video, and hit play.
This time, he laughed so hard he couldn't straighten his back. His entire body relaxed.
Was taking a short break really slacking off?
Was it?
Even so, he forced himself to clean up the newspapers scattered across his desk, planning to reread them carefully and see if he'd missed anything.
Then he saw the front page.
He froze.
Wasn't this... the magic performance from the video?
At that moment, everything clicked.
Bim finally understood why Morin had told him to watch the performance.
Flustered, he quickly found the phone number printed on the newspaper and called it.
A few seconds later, the call connected.
"Guess what?" Morin's relaxed voice came through, instantly easing Bim's nerves. "I knew you'd change your mind."
Not long after, Morin returned to the office.
Compared to their earlier, equal conversation, the current situation looked more like Bim trying to cling to Morin's leg.
"Don't worry," Morin said with the same calm smile. "My conditions are exactly the same as before. This little hiccup won't change them. And they won't change during negotiations either."
Morin hadn't gone far.
He was confident Bim would call him back.
From their first meeting, he'd already judged that Bim was flexible enough. The only problem was that he hadn't seen the performance and didn't understand just how much product placement this new style of magic could achieve.
So the solution was simple.
If he hadn't seen it, just show it to him.
Problem solved.
The [Junior Mind Control Skill]-a hypnotic ability-was perfect for this.
Morin hadn't used it before, but he could easily guess its function.
He didn't directly hypnotize Bim.
Not because it was difficult, but because the system would likely classify that as a "deal made under duress."
That meant the agreement wouldn't count as voluntary.
And if it wasn't voluntary, the compensation wouldn't convert into experience points.
Morin didn't lack money.
He lacked experience points.
If hypnosis worked on contracts, he would've gone straight to the CEOs of top-tier corporations.
Why bother with a small company?
The system might be harsh, but it wouldn't leave such an obvious loophole.
As for less obvious ones...
Maybe they existed.
He just hadn't found them yet.
Still, Morin wasn't someone who got stuck on small obstacles.
If he couldn't hypnotize Bim-
Why not hypnotize others?
When he left earlier, he'd casually snapped his fingers at the people he passed and dropped a few suggestive words, easily sending them into a trance.
The rest was exactly what Bim had seen.
For Morin, this level of manipulation was effortless.
"Please continue," Bim said, listening intently.
"First," Morin said, "I want a performance-based agreement. Your compensation to me will depend entirely on how much your company's performance increases after the advertisement. If there's no increase, I take nothing. If there is, the higher it goes, the more I charge."
"Second, I retain the right to unilaterally terminate the endorsement without paying compensation."
"Third, during the endorsement period, I'm free to accept other endorsements."
"These conditions..." Bim instinctively tried to negotiate. "I can agree to the first and third. But can we adjust the second?"
"As I said," Morin replied calmly, his smile unchanged. "My conditions haven't changed. If you agree, we cooperate. If not-then we don't."
...
In the end, a deal was reached.
Bim wasn't willing to give up such an obvious opportunity.
Other than the second condition, which made him uneasy, everything else was acceptable.
When Morin left, he also lifted the hypnosis on everyone involved.
Strictly speaking, he didn't even need to snap his fingers. He could activate magic just by speaking.
As for why he snapped earlier-
Because it looked cool.
(The author definitely doesn't harbor resentment toward being unable to snap their fingers.)
In any case, Morin's plan progressed almost perfectly.
Everything unfolded just as he'd expected.
A week later, Morin and Daniel performed together again.
The show was called The Duke of Shoes.
It was essentially a two-man skit filled with popular Western satire.
But the core remained unchanged.
Magic was non-negotiable.
The performance was another massive success.
The media dubbed them the "Twin Stars of Magic."
Their style was praised as ushering in a "new era" for magic.
Even afterward, very few could replicate their level of performance.
After all-
A magician who could use real magic was rare.
Though apparently, this was "normal."
(Other magicians: What do you mean, normal?!)
As expected, the first endorsement was also a huge success.
The reason was simple.
Morin's product placement was impossible to ignore.
Others inserted products into their performances.
Morin built entire performances around the products.
The difference was obvious.
Endorsement offers flooded in.
Morin rejected any brand with poor quality, unethical practices, or a bad reputation.
For the rest, he sent his three conditions.
Agree, and they cooperated.
Disagree, and the deal was over.
Morin had the confidence to do this.
He and Daniel also reached another agreement.
All income from their performances would go to Morin.
Morin would then give 70% of it to Daniel.
Daniel never understood this.
Was there really someone who only cared about nominal ownership and not actual money?
Morin never explained.
Daniel couldn't figure it out no matter how hard he tried.
Eventually, he gave up.
They continued like this for a full year.
That night, backstage.
"Are you serious?" Daniel asked, shocked.
"Of course," Morin nodded.
"But... but..." Daniel struggled to accept it. "At a time like this?"
"What's wrong?" Morin smiled. "You've gone astray, Daniel."
"What?" Daniel froze.
"Look at the mirror," Morin said, pointing at a large theatrical mirror. "Do you still see your old self?"
"...Yes?" Daniel stared at his reflection, which looked almost unchanged.
"No," Morin chuckled. "That's no longer the real you."
He walked over, adjusted his clothes, and met Daniel's gaze through the reflection.
"You've been blinded by money. It's time to break free."
"How long has it been since you actually practiced your magic tricks-rather than relying on magic?"
"Laziness is the most terrifying weapon there is," Morin continued. "It can drive civilization forward. And it can destroy it. The same applies to people."
"Remember this."
"You are a magician."
"Not a wizard."
Morin pulled out a deck of cards, shuffled them smoothly, and handed them to Daniel.
"Think back. What was your original dream?"
"To stand above the world using magic?"
"Or to catch the Eye's attention... and enter that place magicians treat like a holy land?"
"...."
Daniel took the deck.
He suppressed the instinct to use magic.
Instead, he relied on pure sleight of hand.
The cards slipped.
They scattered across the floor.
"Haha..."
Morin patted his shoulder and walked away.
"Get ready. This will be our last performance. Our final collaboration."
"And you-if you still want to join the Eye..."
"Why not go back to where you started..."
"And pick up the magic you abandoned long ago?"