*Chapter 377: End and Beginning*

The 27th MTV Video Music Awards have concluded.

Lady Gaga, with 13 nominations and 7 wins, emerged as the biggest winner of the night.

Link had 11 nominations and won only one award, though it was the highly prestigious Video of the Year award. Despite this, many saw him as the evening’s biggest disappointment, as the media had predicted he would win at least four awards, putting him on par with Lady Gaga, but that didn't happen.

Eminem, with his inspirational song "Not Afraid," won Best Male Video and Best Rap Video, making him the second biggest winner of the night.

Artists from Link Music had 19 nominations and won three awards: Video of the Year, Best New Artist for Justin Bieber, and Best Art Direction for Lana Del Rey’s "Young and Beautiful" music video.

The media highlighted three main takeaways from this year’s MTV Awards:

First, Lady Gaga changed into eight different outfits and makeup looks on stage, each more extravagant than the last.

Second, MTV organizers seated Link and his ex, Taylor, together, with cameras frequently focusing on them. The total screen time they shared was 12 minutes, making them the most featured non-performing guests of the night.

Third, the night's results, where Lady Gaga dominated with 7 wins out of 13 nominations, while Link, with 11 nominations, only took home one award, left Lady Gaga as the clear victor.

However, many fans felt Link was unfairly treated.

The songs he was nominated for, including "Legends Never Die," "See You Again," "Girls Like You," and "All of Me," were all major hits with high-quality music videos. The first two were especially praised as iconic tracks. Yet, he only received one award, which some considered a consolation prize.

Fans believed that Link's recent negative press may have influenced the MTV judging panel's decisions.

This sparked a debate in the music industry about whether awards should be judged purely on artistic merit or if an artist's character should also be considered. Should artists with good reputations and fewer scandals have a higher chance of winning?

Judging purely on professionalism would be more objective, but it's hard to define and could lead to social issues. On the other hand, considering an artist’s character might only reflect their state at a particular time, leading to potential biases.

After Rolling Stone raised this issue, it sparked widespread debate in the music world, with supporters on both sides and no clear solution.

Link, however, didn’t pay much attention to the controversy, or rather, he didn’t have the time.

After the MTV Awards, he returned to South Korea to continue his concert tour.

He had already performed six shows in Korea, with two remaining, but ticket sales were so strong that each concert sold out within hours. Universal Music proposed adding two more shows, bringing the total to four remaining.

Link initially thought that after a two-week break, the rumors about him and Jun Ji-hyun would cool down or be overshadowed by other entertainment news.

But as soon as his plane landed at Seoul Airport, the Korean media exploded with renewed gossip, not just about Jun Ji-hyun, but also speculating on his relationships with other female celebrities.

"Mr. Link Baker, dubbed the entertainment industry's top playboy by Vanity Fair, returned to Korea today to resume his concert tour," was the headline added to SBS’s entertainment news.

Major outlets like MBC, KBS, and The Korea Times also covered the story.

As a result, Link was surrounded by a swarm of Korean media reporters as soon as he got off the plane, and paparazzi were always nearby during his concerts.

The paparazzi presence was so intense that a dinner date he had planned with Jun Ji-hyun during a concert break had to be canceled.

Unable to date Jun Ji-hyun, Link focused on his concerts.

He performed four shows in Seoul, Busan, and Daegu.

In Seoul, guest performers included Girls' Generation, T-ara, and 2AM. The highlight was his duet with Girls' Generation leader Taeyeon, where they performed an original Korean song, "Trouble Maker," to a rapturous response from the audience.

However, the Korean media quickly speculated about his relationship with Taeyeon and even linked him to the other eight members of Girls' Generation.

The Dong-a Ilbo claimed to have seen a delivery man who resembled Link entering the Girls' Generation dorm and not leaving all night.

This was, of course, false. Although Link had visited their dorm, it was at the invitation of Taeyeon and Jessica, and he left after half an hour. He didn’t spend the night there.

During his time in Korea, Link also made two investments.

The first was in Big Hit Entertainment.

This company, founded in 2005 by well-known music producer and composer Bang Si-hyuk, focuses on music production, album distribution, artist management, promotion, and training.

At the time, Big Hit only had the boy group 2AM, which debuted earlier that year, and the newly formed trainee group BTS. Big Hit was considered a second-tier music company in Korea, far behind SM Entertainment, JYP Entertainment, and YG Entertainment.

After discussions with Bang Si-hyuk, Link invested $2 million, about 2.7 billion won, for a 41% stake in Big Hit.

He also agreed to use Link Music’s channels to help Big Hit’s boy groups break into the U.S. market.

The second investment was with Jun Ji-hyun, who was preparing to start her own agency after terminating her contract with SidusHQ.

Link approached Jun Ji-hyun with a proposal for collaboration.

He ultimately invested $3 million for a 49% stake in the new agency and secured her U.S. representation rights. Jun Ji-hyun also became a foreign artist under Palm Bay Management.

Jun Ji-hyun’s agency was named “J&Baker Entertainment,” with the "J" representing Jun Ji-hyun and "Baker" representing Link’s surname.

Because of this name, the Korean media widely speculated that Jun Ji-hyun had become Link’s girlfriend, with Asia Daily claiming the playboy had finally fallen for his "sassy girl."

In reality, Jun Ji-hyun was a fairly independent woman, and the most intimate thing they had done was hold hands.

After finishing the Korean leg of his world tour, Link flew to Japan to continue his concerts.

Given Japan’s economic downturn in recent years, with rigid social classes and the six major conglomerates controlling all lucrative industries, it was harder to make big money there than in the U.S.

With no good investment opportunities, Link focused solely on his concerts in Japan.

When he had time, he would go to his Baker mansion in Tokyo's Minato Ward to chat, walk, and spend time with Nozomi Sasaki.

He had bought this top-notch mansion for $8 million. It was close to Tokyo Bay, Roppongi, Tokyo Tower, and the U.S. Embassy, in one of Japan’s most famous affluent areas, home to the rich and powerful, with first-class security.

Link’s status as an international celebrity helped him acquire the property.

After the two started living together, Mr. Tawaraya Yasukawa used his connections to retrieve Nozomi Sasaki’s contract and return it to her, along with $500,000 in compensation.

After some discussion, Link and Nozomi Sasaki jointly invested $1.2 million to acquire a lingerie brand, creating the Nozomi Sasaki high-end lingerie brand, and sent her father to Brazil to grow cocoa.

Occasionally, Yui Aragaki would join them for music and Japanese cooking.

Despite Link's low profile, the Japanese media constantly reported on his rumored romances. First, they claimed he was dating Japan’s new national goddess, Nozomi Sasaki, and that the two were living together. Neither of them clarified the rumors.

After the news broke, Japanese netizens were outraged. Some even protested at Tokyo Metro stations, calling for a boycott of Link’s concerts, and one person made a Molotov cocktail, attempting to bomb Link’s tour bus during a performance.

Later, the Japanese media reported that "the nation’s wife" Yui Aragaki was also very close to Link, with her ex-boyfriend Ryo Nishikido confirming the relationship.

Ryo Nishikido claimed that Yui Aragaki had been sent to China in August by her company to teach Link Japanese, and that the two developed feelings for each other over time. Not long after she returned, she broke up with him, saying they were already living together.

Japanese netizens were even more outraged when they heard this. First, their national goddess was allegedly "taken," and now their national wife as well. Link Baker had gone too far.

Angry male netizens formed a website, demanding that the authorities cancel all of Link’s concert dates in Japan.

However, this was denied by Yui Aragaki’s agency, Johnny & Associates.

First, they clarified that Ryo Nishikido and Yui Aragaki were just colleagues with no romantic involvement, so there was no breakup.

Second, they stated that Yui Aragaki and Link were merely business partners, with Yui serving as a supporting act at Link’s Tokyo concert. Due to work, they had some interaction, but it was strictly professional. Johnny & Associates also mentioned that the two had co-written a new song, "Good Time," and had recently collaborated on another song, "Listen," which would be performed at Link’s Tokyo Dome concert.

Third, Yui Aragaki and Nozomi Sasaki were close friends, and Yui had visited Nozomi’s mansion at her invitation, not to meet Link.

Japanese fans were skeptical of the agency's statements.

Yui Aragaki later personally clarified that she was just friends with Link, a fan of his

Fans were worried when they saw her being so naive and left comments warning her that Link had over a dozen girlfriends around the world, including in the U.S., and that American magazines like Vanity Fair had labeled him Hollywood's number one jerk, saying he was definitely not a good guy.

Yui-chan wanted to defend Link, but her manager stopped her, advising her not to argue with fans.

So the debate ended there.

Link held 16 concerts in Japan, with shows in Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka, Nagoya, Kobe, and other cities. Each concert had over 30,000 attendees, and the Tokyo Dome show drew a crowd of 65,000. In total, over 800,000 tickets were sold for the 16 concerts, generating more than $40 million in revenue from ticket sales alone.

During the tour, the songs "Good Time" and "Listen," which Link and Yui-chan performed together, reached number one on Japan's Oricon charts upon release, with first-week sales of 450,000 and 620,000 copies, respectively.

In addition, his three albums sold 1.32 million copies in Japan during the tour, with the third album reclaiming the top spot on the Oricon weekly sales chart three months after its release.

Link's handsome looks, strong and sexy physique, powerful stage presence, and beautiful voice sparked a "Link craze" across Japan, earning him the title of "Most Attractive Man of the Year" by magazines like Shukan Josei and Nikkan Sports.

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In early October, the Asian leg of his world tour concluded.

The Asian tour lasted nearly three months, with 48 concerts in 37 cities, selling 2.67 million tickets, making Link the highest-grossing Western artist in Asia in the past decade, a title previously held by Michael Jackson.

During this period, his three albums doubled their sales in Asia, selling approximately 4.2 million copies, a remarkable achievement.

It is estimated that Link's net income from the Asian tour was around $120 million, including revenue from ticket sales, appearance fees, album sales, single sales, concert recordings, endorsements, photo books, and more.

Major media outlets like The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Los Angeles Times praised his Asian tour in glowing terms, describing how he won the hearts of countless fans across Asia with his beautiful songs, superb vocal skills, strong stage presence, outstanding creativity, and powerful personal charm, calling it the beginning of his journey to becoming a global superstar.

Magazines like People, Newsweek, Vanity Fair, and GQ featured him on their covers, hailing his comeback after the public backlash he faced in September and declaring him the most influential man in the international music, fashion, sports, and pop culture scenes during August and September.

Of course, some tabloids subtly hinted that his Asian tour was a "flirting trip," linking him with various female celebrities he had only collaborated with or met once, including members of Girls' Generation, T-ara, Stefanie Sun, Liang Jingru, Jolin Tsai, and others, causing the number of his rumored girlfriends to skyrocket from a dozen to dozens, even hundreds.

Link didn't care much about these accusations.

After the online attacks in early September, it seemed that the internet users had grown tired of the rumors about his love life and were now more interested in the release date of his next album, his next boxing match, and the release of his next movie.

Without the distraction of rumors, Link was able to focus on training at the boxing gym, preparing for the year-end boxing match, and had more time and energy to prepare for his role as Captain America.

"Link, here's your boxing schedule for next year. Take a look, and if there are no issues, I'll discuss the specific dates with Anna."

His assistant, Simon, handed him a document.

"It's only October, and you're already scheduling next year's matches?"

In the boxing ring, Link took off his gloves and asked.

"It's mainly because you're too busy. Anna said you have a lot of work next year and almost no time to rest, so she asked us to prepare the boxing schedule in advance to avoid any scheduling conflicts."

Simon shrugged with a smile.

"Every time I see you guys filling up my schedule, it makes me lose all excitement for next year."

Link flipped through the document. He had five boxing matches scheduled for next year, with the first two being super middleweight title defenses.

To enhance the appeal of super middleweight matches, the WBA, WBC, IBF, and WBO boxing organizations would hold a pre-fight title eliminator, with the top two contenders earning the right to challenge Link.

Originally, there was only one spot, but it was increased to two to give more fighters a chance.

In the light heavyweight division, three matches were tentatively scheduled.

The first match was against WBA light heavyweight champion Beibut Shumenov.

Beibut, a Kazakh fighter, debuted in 2007 and currently has a professional record of 10 wins, 9 wins by KO, and 1 loss. He holds the record for becoming a light heavyweight world champion in the fewest matches—9 bouts—earning him the nickname "Kazakhstan's Dark Horse."

He has considerable skill and an aggressive fighting style.

Last year, he won the WBA light heavyweight title from Spanish champion Gabriel Campillo and successfully defended it once in March.

However, his fame is minimal; in the American boxing scene, he is less known than Mario.

He accepted the challenge to gain more fame and a higher payday by defeating a superstar like Link.

The plans for the second and third matches were undecided.

If he defeated Beibut, the plan was for him to challenge the remaining three champions: WBC champion Bernard Hopkins, IBF champion Chad Dawson, and WBO champion Nathan Cleverly.

If the three champions still refused to fight, Link would earn the challenger's title through a title eliminator, forcing the respective champions to either accept the fight or relinquish their belts.

These five matches were the plan for next year.

There were, however, some issues with the venue arrangements.

Simon mentioned that since Link's immense popularity in Asia, companies and tourism agencies in China, Japan, Korea, Singapore, New Zealand, Australia, and Thailand were all vying for the rights to host his matches.

The base bid had already exceeded $20 million per match after taxes.

After some thought, Link suggested they prioritize China, given its large population and market potential.

Simon nodded and took note.

Link then inquired about the status of Dynasty Sports Agency. In July, Dynasty's first round of financing was successfully completed, increasing its valuation from $120 million to $200 million, and a new management team was established. The company name was also changed from Dynasty Promotions to Dynasty Sports.

Given Link's contributions to the company, his stake remained unchanged at 30%, making him the second-largest shareholder.

The company currently represents four professional boxers and six other athletes in niche sports like badminton, tennis, and ice hockey.

When signing athletes, Link had considered recommending a few boxers to the company.

However, the last boxer he recommended, Joe Smith Jr., after joining the main events company, had a professional record of 12 fights, 7 wins, 4 losses, and 1 draw, far below the champion he remembered.

It was then that he realized that a boxer doesn't become a champion just by signing them and scheduling matches.

In reality, becoming a champion requires the support of coaches and sparring partners, the promotion of agents and management companies, and the boxer's performance in the ring.

Switching coaches, sparring partners, and agents could turn a potential champion into a mediocre fighter.

After reviewing Joe Smith Jr.'s record, Link decided not to recommend any more newcomers to avoid well-intentioned mistakes.

"Link, have you ever followed the professional wrestling league? They want to invite you to be a guest presenter at their event. You don't have to compete, and the appearance fee is $3 million."

Simon asked as he put away the folder.

"WWE? If they're inviting me to wrestle, I might be interested."

Link replied.

"That might not be possible. WWE matches may have scripts, but you haven't received the necessary training. Participating in such matches could easily result in injury, and you still have a movie to shoot soon."

Simon advised.

Link nodded, accepting Simon's advice.

He wasn't too concerned about getting injured; the main issue was that WWE series are lengthy, and he didn't have the time to participate at the moment. However, he agreed to be a guest presenter and earn some extra cash.

After Simon left, Link continued his training in the boxing ring.

Mario stopped by briefly but only watched from a distance, unlike in the past when he would come over to bother him.

Since the media reported in September that Link was worth over $1 billion, the people around him, including Mario, Dino, and Simon, had become more reserved when interacting with him, and their conversations were no longer as casual as before, making things feel a bit dull for Link.

Although he's now a billionaire, his social circle remains the same and hasn't upgraded.

If the people in his original circle no longer interact with him, he might end up becoming a lone wolf.

He waved Mario over to spar, and though Mario hesitated, he eventually donned his gloves and stepped into the ring.

Compared to the first half of the year, Mario's belly had shrunk a bit, but his overall weight didn't seem to have decreased much, nor had his strength improved. He was still only able to withstand one or two of Link's power punches.

To help Mario regain his confidence, Link held back some of his power and sparred with him for over an hour.

Bam! Bam bam bam!!