Chapter 114: A Miracle for Everyone (3)

Sua scanned the messages with surprised eyes.

[ Sender : Head Chef-nim ]
▶ Sua, did you perhaps become an actor?

[ Sender : Trainer Park Ho-yoon ]
▶ Member-nim, did you perhaps film a short film?

[ Sender : Japanese Tutor-ssaem ]
▶ …Sua-ssi, did you deceive me?

Contacts started pouring in from all sorts of places – the PT trainer, swimming instructor, game club…

For the first few minutes, Sua enjoyed it.

It was the first time she had received this much attention, and it was amusing to see the change in attitude from before.

But soon, Sua fell into another dilemma.

‘…But, how should I reply to these?’

Should she send a reply?

If she does, how should she phrase it?

It was then.

–It is right not to send one.

A confident remark.

It was the inner Wi Ji-hye.

‘Don’t send replies?’

–How was your relationship with them? Was it close?

‘There were people I was close to and people I wasn’t. If I had to say, there were far more I wasn’t close to. Whatever field I tried, I wasn’t very good at it. I was ignored quite a bit too.’

–Then it is indeed right not to engage with them.

‘Hmm, is that so.’

But a small desire stirred within Sua’s heart.

It was a petty desire for revenge and greed.

A wish to let the people who had thoroughly ignored her know how successful the current Sua had become.

However, Wi Ji-hye’s stance was firm.

–Let them learn of your success only through articles. There is no reason for you to boast directly. The moment they sense you are bragging, they will turn into enemies.

‘Enemies…’

–Yes, enemies. The path ahead of you is much longer than the path you have walked so far. Do you wish to be held back?

‘That’s not it.’

But Sua thought timidly.

‘Then what about replying only to the people who were relatively kind?’

–The moment you send a reply to one person, all those who did not receive one will feel slighted. Such is the nature of human relationships.

‘Ah? That’s definitely true.’

–Therefore, maintain your distance henceforth and devote yourself only to your work. That is the way to move forward without creating enemies.

Wi Ji-hye nodded as if guaranteeing it.

–You will have to face them someday, but now is not the time.

–Grandma Wi was useful after all.

–After becoming the天下第一 (greatest under heaven), the number of fools seeking me from all corners of the central plains became uncountable. I am an expert in this.

In the end, Sua decided to follow the advice.

Woong—
Woong—

Her phone was still vibrating.

She decided to be satisfied with just reading them.

Let’s not reply yet.

For the future.

◈◈◈◈◈

At the same time, StarCatch headquarters.

It was dawn, but the inside was bright as morning.

Kim Sun-ah took out coffee she had stored in the fridge and let out a deep sigh.

Fatigue from excessive work was the cause.

“Everyone is monitoring, right?”

Actually, Saengji—Kim Sun-ah felt awkward saying such things.

It didn’t feel real that she was sitting in the team leader’s chair.

Meanwhile, the employees were fired up as if their bodies were on fire.

“Team Leader Kim Sun-ah, we’ll send it over right away.”

Hearing those words, Saengji felt it anew.

‘Their attitude has changed again already. Is it thanks to Sua after all?’

The provocative article about Kim Yuhan that Sua had written – because it turned out to be somewhat accurate, her own position had risen once again.

The senior who used to harass Saengji was completely crushed.

A feeling of gratitude towards Sua blossomed anew.

Anyway, now was the time to check the monitoring data.

[ Special Task Force 808 Dazzlingly Awakens the Dormant Buddy Cop Genre. A Typhoon from Episode 1, How Far Will It Go? ]

Perhaps influenced by StarCatch quickly lining up behind Special Task Force 808, other companies were following suit like ghosts.

[ Seo Yeon-ju—Kim Sun-il Still Flawless Acting… This Year’s Wednesday-Thursday Drama is ‘Mystic Time?’, Will It Really Happen? ]

[ Kim Yuhan Makes a Strong Impression with Proof! ]

‘No, it would have been the same even without StarCatch.’

Saengji Kim Sun-ah thought so.

[ Special Task Force 808, Real-time Rating 23%? ]

The real-time ratings were staggering.

If you had eyes, you couldn’t help but gravitate towards this.

Kim Sun-ah’s eyes rolled ceaselessly.

There was another noteworthy point currently catching her eye.

[ Who is Lee Soo-an Who Pulled Off ‘Kim Yuhan’? Rookie Award Candidate! ]

The fact that Lee Soo-an had become a very strong candidate for the Rookie Award.

‘Amazing. Has it only been about 3 hours since Episode 1 finished airing?’

What was surprising was that this shift in public opinion happened just hours after the first episode ended.

That’s how groundbreaking his performance was.

Woowoong—

Around then, Kim Sun-ah’s phone vibrated.

[ Wonsunging : Community sentiment is roughly taking shape too ]
[ Wonsunging : Screenshotting some popular posts ]

While the employees monitored the news articles, Wonsunging assisted by gathering community reactions.

Moreover, since she held an admin position, the information was high quality.

[ Title : Let the losers upvote this? ]
( Lee Soo-an’s ‘calm before the storm’ article )
[ Upvote if you’re a loser who doubted Lee Soo-an ㅋㅋ ]

• Fck how could you not doubt this

• How did he prove this

• Please let this form continue to the end
  ​
  [ Title : Upvote if Rookie Award is confirmed ㅋㅋㅋ ]
  ( Scene where Lee Soo-an kisses Park Do-hee’s forehead )
  [ Upvote if it was already confirmed at this moment ㅋㅋ ]

• That gave me chills

• Really seemed like a psycho, is that really acting?;

• For real, both the scriptwriter and the actor
  ​
  [ Uniform : Seo Yeon-ju Uniform Collection ]
  ( Several Seo Yeon-ju still cuts )

• What are you doing? Upload it ㅇㅇ 

• Hmm her legs are really pretty

• Hmm her proportions are really good

• She’s really pure

• It’s small….
  ​
  [ Wonsunging : Of course, this is the gallery’s opinion. ]
  [ Wonsunging : Much higher male user ratio. ]
  [ Wonsunging : So brought the official website reactions too ]

Immediately after, the public opinion from the Special Task Force 808 official website was relayed to Saengji—Kim Sun-ah’s phone.

• -Wow, really lost track of time
• -Would have regretted not watching ep 1;
• -As expected, tons of comments ㅋㅋㅋ
• -How can I wait until tomorrow

Before Saengji could even finish looking at one picture, Wonsunging sent a new one.

The popularity was immense.

• -I strongly approve of the Kim Sun-il Lee Soo-an chemistry
• -Agreed, looking forward to this more than the romance with Seo Yeon-ju
• -This is the flavor you watch buddy cop shows for
• -Please use me instead of Park Do-hee to get tortured

Around then, an employee asked.

“Team Leader Kim Sun-ah, this seems like a great chance to rack up views before Episode 2 airs. What tone should we take?”

Kim Sun-ah pondered for a moment.

“Maintain the current tone, but occasionally subtly counter by suggesting Sua isn’t falling behind as a rookie award candidate either.”

Sound reasoning.

As a team leader, she gave instructions that would help the employees gain views while also providing some level of support to Sua.

◈◈◈◈◈

The next day. Thursday.

The fervor related to Special Task Force 808 spread like wildfire throughout the dawn, and finally, the official production team announced their own results.

The confirmed Episode 1 rating.

[ Special Task Force 808, Episode 1 Rating 23% ]
[ An All-Time Best Start! There’s Never Been a Buddy Cop Show Like This! ]

There was no reason not to announce it.

It was a score worth boasting about, so they had to publicize it even once more.

Naturally, the impact was huge, and the start was YouTube.

–Hello! This is IssueKing. The drama market has been sluggish lately, right? But suddenly, a work has emerged as a hot topic, changing the current! The anticipation is enormous!

–Hello YouTube friends! Finally, Lee Soo-an-ssi’s acting, which had been hidden away, has been unveiled. But!

These creators lived and died by views just like anyone else, and as a result, they flocked to the topic like bees to a flower.

–Everyone, you know I usually don’t make a big fuss. But this work is really good, okay? Seriously, I sat side-by-side and watched it with my younger brother, who I’m not even close to and never watches dramas.

Soon, the official channel also acted swiftly.

[ tvS DRAMA (Official) ]

[ EP 1-1 Lee Soo-an, the ‘Mad Dog’ Unleashed from the Start I #SpecialTaskForce808 ]

The quickly released official video sucked up views like a black hole.

Those who watched the drama yesterday wanted to see it again, and those who missed it were curious about what exactly the scene was.

• -Please release clips for each character!!!
• -Watching the torture scene over and over….
• -Kim Yuhan’s charm is insane. There hasn’t been a male lead like this.

The comment section was naturally in chaos.

---

Gradually moving from online closer to offline.

The fire ignited on YouTube finally spread to other media as well.

Thursday morning.

[ FM Sweet City, This is Kim Yoo-shin ]

The radio show hosted by singer Kim Yoo-shin was one of them.

“We have Saebom-ssi with us today. An actor with Korean nationality who advanced to Hollywood, that’s rare. Have you been well lately?”

“I’ve been doing reasonably well.”

“So many people are curious about how the always machine-like, rigid Saebom-ssi spends her holidays. Could you perhaps tell us a little about Saebom-ssi’s daily life?”

Kim Yoo-shin chuckled softly.

“I had to record yesterday, but I watched a drama instead.”

“Me too. I watched Special Task Force 808.”

Lee Sae-bom nodded.

“Kim Yuhan, he was interesting.”

“Saebom-ssi found him interesting? This is no ordinary matter?”

---

A Twitch stream started on Thursday morning.

“Ah? This person is Seo Yeon-ju? She has a refreshing vibe.”

“I know Kim Sun-il! He’s handsome!”

“Ham Ah-yoon! I know her! I used to learn piano!”

Except for Saseum-Sicarin, the other four members were all doing ‘Guess the Actor’s Name’ segments on their respective broadcasts.

Because this was being treated as ‘honey pot content’ among streamers these days.

They themselves had become interested in the actors, and coincidentally, the viewers wanted this too.

Following the short film festival, the communities caught fire, and the subsequent Wednesday-Thursday drama also gathering buzz had a huge impact.

And currently, Sicarin’s broadcast.

[ L I V E ]
[ Listen to Sicarin’s Fuss! (ᗒᗣᗕ)՞ !! ]
[ 18k Viewers Watching ]

Saseum—Go Eun-bi was running wild.

“Guys, did you see it? You really should have seen it!”

She said she was scared the chat would be flooded with drama talk, so why did she turn on the stream?

The reason was extremely simple.

“Ah, I wanted to talk about it so badly! My mouth was itching like crazy! Hey hey hey! Anyone else besides Sicarin watch it?”

• [ It was fun tho ]
• [ Let’s watch ep 2 together today ]
• [ Stream it for us ]

It was because Saseum herself had enjoyed Special Task Force 808 so much.

She wanted to share this feeling.

“Wow, look at these guys? Didn’t you say you wouldn’t watch before?”

• [ I definitely went in to watch Seo Yeon-ju ]
• [ I watched cuz the community aggro was intense ]
• [ But I only remember Kim Yuhan ]
• [ FR Kim Yuhan is the real deal ]
• [ Community was burning up ㅋㅋ ]

“Right, right, Kim Yuhan was insane.”

As she continued her fuss like that, at some point.

• [ So how did the Lee Sua casting go? ]

Saseum didn’t miss that chat message and read it.

“Sua-ssi’s casting? No major issues. She said she’d consider it positively, so you can look forward to it. But after watching the drama yesterday, I kind of want to invite Sua-ssi too…”

• [ Then we can see both? ]
• [ Wow is it a Rookie Award candidate special? ]
• [ Sicarin can even do that? ]
• [ Crazyㅋㅋㅋ ]

Saseum belatedly thought, ‘Oops’.

There are moments in life when one gets too excited and blurts out anything like a confirmation, and that was just now.

In reality, nothing was confirmed yet.

Saseum immediately went into damage control.

“No, I just mean I’ll ask. Sua-ssi said she’s really close with Sua-ssi, so maybe as a set…”

However, Saseum couldn’t finish her sentence.

• [ ? ]
• [ ??? ]
• [ ?? ]
• [ ???? ]

Because the chat window was instantly flooded with question marks.

Even Sicarin couldn’t help but be flustered.

“What is it? Why? What’s with the question marks?”

Did the camera turn on?
No? I didn’t expose anything?

But she soon found out the reason.

• [ What’s the relationship between Lee Soo-an and Lee Sua? ]
• [ Is there something between them? ]
• [ Are they dating? ]
• [ What is it? What? ]
• [ Sicarin do you know something? ]

“…Ah?”

Was she not supposed to say this either?

For the first time since starting as a VTuber, cold sweat trickled down her face.

◈◈◈◈◈

Thursday afternoon.

Sua went to buy a drink and was startled.

“Did you watch Special Task Force 808?”

“Of course, I did. I watched it thinking, ‘what drama in this day and age,’ but it was actually fun when I watched it. I guess I liked this kind of thing.”

“Me too, me too. It was my taste.”

Even as Sua received her strawberry smoothie at the cafe, she felt bewildered.

This wasn’t the internet; it was reality.

They were talking about her drama in real life?

Thump thump thump….

Sua’s heart pounded like crazy.

‘What is this, what’s going on, I won’t be able to sleep today either at this rate.’

Hiding her excitement as much as possible, she headed towards Mystic headquarters.

---

Mystic Headquarters.

Today, there wasn’t a grand event like the full production team dinner.

However, Mystic decided to gather the internal family members to watch Episode 2 together, which led to the current scene.

Affiliated actors and employees gathered in one space.

Kim Yi-seo handed her card to the team leader and instructed.

“Use this to make sure the employees have snacks, and clean up neatly afterward. You don’t need to worry about the price.”

“Understood!”

Afterward, the team leader busily went around taking orders.

“If anyone wants something to eat, please tell me now! We need to order everything at once! We can’t move once the broadcast starts!”

“Tteokbokki for me!”

“Crab sandwiches and coffee for this team!”

“I want Sua!”

The last shout was from Seo Yeon-ju.

After shouting that, Seo Yeon-ju looked at Sua with a playful expression, simultaneously winking with her left eye.

“Just kidding. Whenever occasions like this come up, I feel like joking around. It relieves tension and feels good, right?”

“That’s true.”

Sua nodded.

“So, what does Sua want to eat?”

“This is enough for me.”

Sua quietly held up only her strawberry smoothie.

“Sua doesn’t need anything! As expected!”

An atmosphere quickly formed suggesting Sua considered this event trivial, but the truth was the exact opposite.

Sua was trembling.

It seemed like something she should get used to, but it wasn’t easy.

It was new every time.

Because whenever Sua accomplished something, expectations that had grown much larger would block Sua’s path.

But that was also exciting.

Addictively so.

It was then.

“Sua.”

Yeon-ju linked her arm with Sua’s and held out her phone with the other hand.

“Want to take a picture? Let’s upload one.”

“Ah, yes.”

Sua made V-signs with both hands, along with an awkward smile.

Seo Yeon-ju hummed a tune and said.

“Remember the picture we took after getting our nails done together? The reaction is exploding now. The number of likes has multiplied several times. It would be good if Sua made an SNS account soon too.”

“Uh, um.”

SNS.

Truthfully, Sua didn’t know the ecosystem there well.

“Please teach me later, unnie.”

It was then.

“Episode 2 broadcast! Starting now!”

The title ‘Special Task Force 808’ appeared on the giant TV.

Despite the abundance of delivery food, no one was actually bringing it to their mouths.

Everyone seemed thirsty, only sipping their drinks.

Suddenly, Seo Yeon-ju muttered.

“Looking forward to it, Kim Yuhan is even more amazing today.”

Sua nodded.

It was natural given the flow of the work.

Kim Yuhan’s duality and genius were revealed with gradually increasing depth.

And about 10 minutes later.

Sounds finally began to emerge.

“Good. The feeling is even better today!”

“The communities are already going wild!”

“They said they’ll send the real-time ratings within 5 minutes!”

Everyone let out cheers as if supporting a team at a sports festival.

Only good news abound, and Sua also felt secretly expectant.

Seo Yeon-ju held Sua’s hand tightly while watching the drama.

She wondered if this was what it felt like for a ship catching a favorable wind.

Special Task Force 808 sailed smoothly again today.

Riding the exceedingly excellent current, while simultaneously facing no obstructions.

Right at that moment.

“Excuse me.”

Someone shot up from their seat.

The surroundings instantly fell silent.

It wasn’t because the movement was large.

Many were watching excitedly at this moment.

Rather, the cause was the voice.

Just one syllable, but a tone more subdued than anything else.

Soon, Sua’s eyes widened.

“…I think I need to go to the hospital.”

Because Kim Sun-il was clearly trembling.