Decoy (Bait / Miggi / 미끼)

ALL CHARACTERS, GROUPS, ORGANIZATIONS, INCIDENTS,

AND LOCATIONS DEPICTED IN THIS DRAMA ARE ENTIRELY FICTITIOUS

DECOY

EPISODE 5. THE SHADOWS

Living in the fast-paced 21st century is like playing a game of speed.

Now Free is a state-of-the-art technology based on PLC internet.

It exceeds the conventional VDSL by far, providing high-speed internet service...

Assemblyman Kim Seong-dae used his connections to set this up.

You'll have to do well.

I told you not to worry.

...we provide you with internet phone services.

-What's that? -Now Free is

a state-of-the-art technology based on PLC internet.

It allows you to make free phone calls...

It's a specialty telecommunication business.

Have you even heard of it?

Hell, of course, I have.

Mr. Kim, pulling his strings to help me get into this thing.

I feel so grateful.

-We need to talk. -What?

What is this specialty telecommunication stuff?

To put it simply, it's a second-tier service provider.

Like second-tier financing companies?

Something like that.

That's simple enough.

But why would Mr. Kim want me to get involved?

Does he want me to start a phone company?

That would take tons of money.

If that had been the case

he wouldn't have entrusted it to you.

Specialty telecommunications are for businesses.

You, Mr. No,

shouldn't even dream of it.

Ms. Jung, you really have a way of being rude.

What makes you think I can't start one?

Sure. What's stopping you?

If you do...

I'll be your loyal subordinate.

Okay. You keep your word.

You brought us to a telecommunications trade event

but you don't want us to start a business in one. Why is it so complicated?

That's why doing business isn't easy.

The more complicated it gets, the less people gather.

More money for us to make.

Can't we just do what we're good at?

Let's just do the old pyramid scheme.

I'm a total pro at that.

A pyramid scheme, you say?

When this tech gets popular,

the whole country will be able to use various free phone call services.

Isn't it amazing?

So is this what you call a phone device?

It almost looks like a cell phone.

It's a TRS device model. We purchased it to test our technology.

So you can use this to make phone calls like a cell phone?

Yes, but to be exact, it's more similar to a walkie-talkie.

A walkie-talkie you can use within a very large radius.

You don't have to pay to use a walkie-talkie.

That's why you can use this for free phone calls.

So what you're telling me is that for the free phone calls to be possible,

I would need this device, is that right?

The technology we have was developed for this device.

Then you'd need to sell these too.

That's right.

You have a great business model.

-I respect you, sir. -Thank you.

Listen up.

We're going to sell these.

A pyramid scheme in the telecommunication industry?

Are you going to get people to sign up

and then give them a discount if they get a new member?

What a load of crap.

Ms. Jung So-ram. You should learn to hear people out.

Are you looking down on me

because you're an elitist and I'm from the streets?

Keep talking.

Watch it.

Now Free is just a decoy.

We're going to sell these devices.

Those?

These are going to be the magnetic pads.

Some jerks are still scamming people with magnetic pads.

Magnetic pads worked in the 20th century.

In the 21st century? Business ventures.

Digital is the new trend.

Hot, hot! For god's sake!

So...

how is this going to work?

21ST CENTURY DIGITAL BUSINESS TRS DEVICES

Where did you get all of these?

GT Telecom once made them as a substitute for cell phones.

But they lost to competitors.

I got them for almost nothing at a closing sale.

Song Young-jin.

-Yes? -You like free stuff, don't you?

Hell, of course, I do.

I knew you'd say that.

People in this country love free stuff.

They go crazy for it.

So what do we do from now on? We're going to sell free stuff.

Sell free stuff?

How much is your cell phone plan?

I make quite a lot of phone calls here and there.

So more than 100,000 won a month.

-Ms. Jung? -I attend to Mr. Kim daily,

so some hundreds of thousands of won.

See? But if you buy this, phone calls are free.

What do you think? Do you get it?

But is it possible? Making free phone calls?

They said it is. The guys at Now Free.

It uses walkie-talkie technology,

and radio frequencies are free.

I mean, does it work wherever you go?

That's what's important for cell phones.

Whether it works or not isn't important to us.

For us, making sales is important.

We're going to sell free calls to people.

Free cell phone plans. If you buy this phone.

Not everyone uses a magnetic pad.

But everyone uses a cell phone.

It's a scam.

Watch your mouth. What do you mean?

It's a business plan.

Hey.

Put some sense into your head if you want to work with me.

Putting my professional knowledge to use,

this business is going to take off.

When can we start our business?

Right now.

Now.

We invite you to our grand opening event.

Please come inside and take a look around.

A lucky draw event is taking place

so come over, take your draw

and come inside for your lucky prize.

Thank you so much.

We have such a big crowd. Thank you for coming.

Come inside for many different prizes.

Thank you very much. Thank you.

Now Free invites you to our grand opening event.

Many of you are here to celebrate.

Please come inside for various lucky prizes.

Students are also welcome...

PHONE DEVICE PYRAMID SCHEME GT DEVICE NOW FREE

Hello, Now Free's opening event...

How can they pay 1,000,000 won for something that costs 20,000?

This is an even bigger rip-off than magnetic pads.

See? That's exactly your problem.

No wonder you didn't make a fortune from the magnetic pads.

I made enough money to get by.

You mean the money you scammed from me.

You ended up getting more than I did.

From now on, always think from the customers' perspective.

The customers?

The people over there. Our lovely suckers...

I mean, customers.

You made a great investment.

This cell phone is called a "free phone" but has so many advantages.

-Take one of these. -Thanks.

-I got lucky! -Is there anyone who didn't get a bag?

Thank you so much.

How do they look?

They look bright and happy.

They're all thinking that they got their money's worth.

They spent a million won for no more phone bills ever again.

A couple of months in without paying for a phone plan

they'll reach a break-even point.

On top of that, if they bring another person

they get back 30 percent of what they paid for the device.

What a find! What a total profit.

They've already forgotten about the million won they've paid

and they're thinking, "I'm so smart."

"I'm so economical." But they're actually not.

Speaking of which, giving money back seems like a waste.

A whopping 30 percent?

Are you stupid?

We'll give it back to a few in the beginning

and then we'll delay the process.

Then how about targeting stay-at-home moms?

Maybe they'll fall for it if we tell them it helps to save money.

We could say that they'd be earning money if they buy these for the whole family.

I've got door-to-door salespeople knocking on all kinds of doors.

You're always a step behind me, aren't you?

Not too bad, though. Just try and keep up.

With 100 members, it's 100 million won.

With 1,000 members, it's a billion won. With 10,000 members, it's 10 billion.

With 100,000 members, it's 100 billion won.

We're printing money right now.

Those people are the printing presses.

Just trust me and follow my lead.

I'll let you guys bathe in money.

Is that possible with just a few stores like that?

Although...

the business model doesn't seem too bad.

Now that I've seen its potential, I'm going to expand on it.

I'll need funds to make the devices in bulk.

I'm going to look for an angel investor

from now on.

Captain Kang Seok-gu, Gyeongcheon Police Station.

I'd like to request some information on a person.