episode_0222

[Alien Game]

▶ Sufficient Implementation Elements

▶ Special Grade: Rare

▶ The grade is fixed at ‘Special Grade: Rare.’

It’s news worthy of a festival.

But.

The Soo-ah Association sat at their desks with subtly complex expressions. There was a reason they couldn’t be entirely happy.

That reason was…

“What should we do about that?”

“Hmm, that’s what I’m saying.”

At Kim Yu-han and Wi Ji-hye’s words, the Soo-ah Association looked towards a corner. To be honest, it was worrying. Soo-ah was playing dolls with Kim So-hee…

“Uhehe.”

“Uuh… Uwaaa!”

Kim Yu-han felt dizzy and rubbed his forehead.

“Just looking at them makes me nauseous.”

How long would this aftereffect last?

He could only hope it wouldn’t be long.

◈◈◈◈◈

Meanwhile, Director Go Tae-min, in charge of ‘Crescendo from Tomorrow,’ was surveying the scenery of Hyunhwa Arts High School again today.

A smile played on his lips.

‘The exterior is stylish, and the interior design is excellent. Plus, it’s full of youthful energy, which I really like.’

He was putting his heart and soul into the film production, and he had concluded that Hyunhwa Arts High School was the most suitable.

Go Tae-min asked the staff,

“It’s good, right? As a place for Soo-ah to play the piano.”

The staff also nodded. They had similar impressions.

“Yes. We felt it the moment we saw it.”

“Director, I think this school is the best.”

Go Tae-min nodded and said,

“Let’s use this place as the filming location, and it would be good to design the uniforms separately. The only thing I find lacking in Hyunhwa Arts High School is the uniform.”

The staff member next to him nodded while taking notes.

“Understood. I’ll proceed immediately.”

“Is our schedule finished now?”

“Yes. With Hyunhwa Arts High School, we’ve now surveyed all the locations we aimed to see. All that’s left is contacting them for the location agreements, which we can handle.”

“Good. Then next is…”

Director Go Tae-min immediately thought of the next schedule.

“…The script reading. We need to redo the script reading that was postponed because of Kang Hak-man, that sex offender son of a bitch.”

A quick-witted staff member immediately pulled out their phone and showed him the calendar. Go Tae-min looked through the schedule.

“How about 10 days from now? There’s no need to postpone it for too long, right? We’ve done it once before, so preparations will be quick.”

“In fact, 5 days is also possible, if the actors’ schedules allow it. I’ll contact them right away.”

“You’re good at getting things done quickly.”

Go Tae-min smiled and patted the staff member’s shoulder.

In his mind, he imagined Soo-ah and Ham Ah-yoon playing the piano at Hyunhwa Arts High School. It would be quite a spectacle.

◈◈◈◈◈

One week later, Netflix headquarters.

‘Alien Game’ set.

The staff moved quickly without a moment’s rest. Today, they were filming the ‘vivid reactions of people who woke up after being abducted by aliens.’

The actors reviewed their lines, and the staff checked the equipment. But writer Hong Ye-ji was different.

She was currently searching for just one person.

‘Where is Soo-ah…’

That was Soo-ah.

Because she wanted to show her the impressions she had felt, the passion she had ignited, and the new manuscript she had written.

“Ah.”

And soon, she found Soo-ah.

It was easy to find her because she was the only one with white hair.

“Excuse me, Soo-ah.”

“Huh?”

Ye-ji spoke to Soo-ah, who turned around quickly.

“First of all, thank you so much.”

“Why?”

“I realized that I should put all my effort into this work. But the important thing is that Soo-ah told me to come back anytime. If you hadn’t said that… I probably wouldn’t have been able to return because I would have been too self-conscious.”

“Ah, I completely understand.”

Soo-ah nodded.

Yes, it was fine up to that point.

“Work hard. I acknowledge you. Huh? Or not?”

“…?”

Ye-ji tilted her head. Soo-ah seemed a little different from usual. But she soon understood.

‘Ah, she’s focusing on the Sung Si-hyun role.’

It wouldn’t be too late to convey her gratitude later.

Ye-ji stepped back for now. She was inwardly impressed by Soo-ah’s strict separation of work and personal matters.

.

.

.

.

.

Filming for ‘Alien Game’ resumed.

“Abducted people! Everyone gather!”

The actors participating in ‘Alien Game’ all gathered together. The number was a whopping one hundred. Everyone’s clothing was unified with school uniforms and red name tags. Everyone’s base stats are enhanced to +1.

The drama ‘Alien Game’ mainly deals with the situation after the main actors are abducted by aliens. In other words, the scenes they were filming from today were very important…

“Hmm…”

Director Kim Young-gon, with a Guan Yu beard, intruded.

“I want to give it a little point. I want to give it a kick.”

Then the cinematographer next to him asked.

“A point? What kind of point are you talking about?”

“A point to emphasize the aliens’ cruelty.”

“Aren’t we killing several people today? Isn’t that enough?”

“No. If we just kill them indiscriminately, it’ll just be unpleasant. We need to kill someone in an unexpected moment and in a shocking way to have a good effect.”

“Do you have any ideas?”

“I have an idea itself, but I don’t know if there’s an actor who can die convincingly to match it. Let’s take a look together. There are still over a hundred people gathered here.”

Only then did the cinematographer suddenly become startled. He now realized what Director Kim Young-gon’s words meant.

“Are you perhaps changing the extra who dies?”

“Yes. I think it would be good to give them a few lines too.”

“It’s too late to change it now… No, wait, they’re extras, so it doesn’t matter? Not main or supporting roles.”

“That’s right. Are we going to ruin the scene by being considerate of the extras? We can’t do that, can we?”

It would be sad for the extra being replaced, but it was very common for extras’ roles to be changed on set. ‘Alien Game’ was no exception.

“Hmm.”

But even after looking through all the extras, Director Kim Young-gon’s problem was not resolved.

‘They’re not extras for nothing. Why are they all so unremarkable? There’s not a single person I want to use.’

It was then.

“Hey, Lee Soo-ah. I bought coffee.”

“Coffee? I don’t drink coffee?”

“…Then I’ll just eat two.”

Soo-ah’s friend, who was with her, caught Guan Yu beard Kim Young-gon’s eye. Right, now that he thought about it, that friend had also come as an extra. Looking at her, her face was quite good.

“Excuse me, Soo-ah.”

Kim Young-gon soon approached Soo-ah and explained his concerns in detail.

Then Soo-ah thought for a moment and then.

“So, you need someone who defies the aliens’ orders and then goes *poof* and dies, right?”

“Yes. It would be good if they were a bit short-tempered. But I don’t like the look of anyone. Does Soo-ah’s friend act a little?”

Soo-ah poked Eun-bi’s cheek with her finger.

“She’s perfect for it. She has a terrible personality.”

“Ah, so, she’s good at acting like that?”

“No. I just mean her personality is actually terrible.”

Only after talking that far did Go Eun-bi’s eyes widen belatedly. Eun-bi pinched Soo-ah’s arm wildly. What kind of crazy thing was this?

She glared fiercely.

‘Hey, what are you doing? Why are you introducing me like that!’

What is a friend? Isn’t a friend someone who introduces even a devil like you as an angel!

But today, Eun-bi felt that Soo-ah’s condition was generally strange. No, to be exact, it was familiar. It felt like Soo-ah had returned to her state before she started acting?

Eun-bi hurriedly explained.

“I, I, I have a good personality. I couldn’t have succeeded as a VTuber if I was mean. Do you know VTubers? I’m Shikarin…”

As she spoke incoherently, Director Kim Young-gon crossed his arms and stared at Eun-bi silently.

And he moved closer, taking a closer look.

“Euh, um?”

Thanks to that, Eun-bi was embarrassed.

But in fact, Kim Young-gon’s thoughts were completely different from Eun-bi’s worries. Rather, he began to consider it positively.

‘She’s much better than the extras from earlier. She has a really good face. If she can handle just two slightly rebellious lines, she’d be very good?’

Soon Kim Young-gon asked.

“Eun-bi, would you like to try it if I give you about two lines? After all, the role itself was originally a dying role, right?”

“Ah? Lines?”

Only then did Eun-bi understand the situation she was in.

It was at the same time that she imagined things arbitrarily in her head.

‘Soo-ah, could it be? Is she trying to get me a scene?’

It would be a lie if she said Eun-bi was good at acting, and it would definitely be exposed. Then, if it failed, both Eun-bi and Soo-ah would have to bear the shame.

So, Soo-ah subtly coaxed the director with the words ‘Eun-bi’s actual personality is terrible.’ So that the director would suggest lines for a role with a terrible personality.

…That’s what Eun-bi thought.

‘I can’t miss this opportunity.’

Eun-bi quickly finished calculating.

Now that the *red pill* had burst, she had to row the boat somehow. In this situation, it would be good to receive even one more line. Because it meant she could be exposed on screen more often.

Soon Eun-bi nodded vigorously.

She was almost a woodpecker digging into the floor.

“Give me the lines for the terrible personality, Director.”

Kim Young-gon also smiled then.

“Good. Then let’s see with the production team how we’re going to use the blood capsule. Let’s discuss the dying part and immediately receive the lines and say them a few times.”

“Yes!”

“Follow me.”

“Yes!”

Eun-bi followed Kim Young-gon, only turning her head towards Soo-ah. She winked with her eyes, made a heart with both hands, and then said with her lips.

‘Thank you, Lee Soo-ah!’

Soo-ah thought. Why is she being so unpleasant?

◈◈◈◈◈

At the same time, Japan.

In Japan, topics with ‘K’ attached were currently a hot topic. It meant nothing other than the Korean Wave.

In fact, Japan had quite a bit of interest in Korean media before, but it had increased explosively this time. Special Task Force 808 had guided it very well.

Because of the situation, stories about Special Task Force 808 were being busily talked about among Japanese officials.

“MDD 808, is this still trending in real time?”

“I thought it would be a flash in the pan, but surprisingly, interest is growing more and more. Shouldn’t we do something too?”

“The dramas change every day, but this one is the best ever. It’s really different. We always say this. So, let’s not get too excited this time either. It might cool down soon.”

The officials’ thoughts were divided.

Most agreed that the huge success of Special Task Force 808 was acknowledged, but they would watch to see if it would maintain its popularity steadily.

In fact, they didn’t like the success of Special Task Force 808 very much.

Because it showed that they hadn’t done well enough, and the more the Korean Wave’s position grew, the smaller their *rice bowl* became.

But the success of Special Task Force 808 didn’t stop.

To what extent?

To the extent that it even changed the minds of Japanese industry officials.

In Japanese communities, ‘MDD 808’ still ranked first in real-time trends, and major communities were in an uproar about wanting to see season 2 soon.

Therefore.

From this point on, some officials changed their strategy from simply opposing it to using Special Task Force 808 to gain practical benefits.

Isn’t there a saying that if you can’t beat them, join them? By simply acknowledging that Korean things were doing well and putting a straw in, they could gain a lot of profit.

[Super Hot Topic in Japan! MDD 808!]

[Rising Popularity in Japan, Kim Yu-han ˙ Lee Soo-ah]

Articles poured out one after another in Japan.

Finally.

K-dramas were mentioned on Japan’s famous entertainment stations. They were deciding on the topic for the next episode.

“The special featuring retired comedians did well without any problems, probably because of nostalgia. But what should we do for the next special? We need to get better results.”

“This one was more successful than I thought. The next topic will be compared to this one unless it’s fairly amazing…”

Then someone came up with an idea.

“How about covering the Korean Wave as a topic?”

“Are you saying we should just turn on K-drama footage and show our reactions? That’s a shortcut to the abyss for ratings, isn’t it?”

“No. Of course, we need to cast Korean actors. A special featuring three male actors who are leading the Korean Wave.”

“The plan itself isn’t bad. It’s excellent.”

Everyone nodded.

It was a plan that understood the local needs very well.

However, one problem remained.

“If we cast only one person, it looks empty, and if we cast three people, the structure becomes ambiguous. It’s hard to divide the parts for each of them. It would be good if someone took on the main role.”

“The actor who will take on the main role is already decided, isn’t he?”

“Who?”

“Who else could it be? It’s Kim Yu-han.”