episode_0072
by fnovelpiatvS Broadcasting Station Meeting Room, the director examined the articles.
[tvS, MBQ, KBM, SBT. A Hellish Four-Way Battle?]
[Internet Ablaze with News of Mega-Star Appearance, Gathering of Stars]
[Heated Competition, Pouring Attention…. Communities Ablaze.]
Even as the director refreshed the internet, new articles were pouring out in real-time. And most of them were about predicting who would be the winner in the four-way battle.
Even putting out speculative articles was a situation where things were properly catching fire. That’s because advance interest has a significant impact. The moment interest cools, you’re out.
At that moment, an employee placed a stack of papers in front of the director.
“Huh?”
The director tilted his head.
Because he couldn’t recognize what was placed in front of him. Usually, they monitor internet articles or cafe reactions, capture them, and bring them, but this was a format he’d never seen before.
“What did you investigate and pull this out from? It doesn’t look like an internet article, and looking at its appearance, it doesn’t seem like a fan cafe either?”
“It’s a gallery, the community with the most mentions.”
“The most mentions, but not a fan cafe?”
“Yes. That’s why it has so many mentions.”
The employee continued.
“They have interest but aren’t aligned with any side yet. They could turn into enemies at any time, or they could turn into fans at any time.”
“Back in my day, it was cafes and blogs, times have changed. Okay, I understand. The atmosphere of this community must be particularly important.”
“That’s right. Especially since most of them are young people.”
The director then carefully examined each of the monitoring materials the employee had brought. Soon, he let out a “hmm” sound.
It was accompanied by his expression gradually hardening seriously.
Then, at some point.
*Bang*—
PD Choi Hee-won and Writer Lee Geum-suk appeared in the meeting room.
“PD Choi.”
The director called PD Choi Hee-won before even receiving their greetings.
“The other broadcasting stations are going wild right now, and the internet is in chaos. PD Choi knows that, right? Since this battle is so important, everyone is engaging in trench warfare, using all sorts of tricks.”
“I know. Isn’t that why I’m going through all this hardship?”
Choi Hee-won pointed to her haggard face with her index finger.
“I haven’t even been able to go to the gym lately. I’m dying.”
“Yeah, I know that Writer Lee and PD Choi are doing their best, right? I know that well. But….”
The director pushed some of the materials towards them.
First, it was internet articles.
[MBQ Writer Choi Si-young Confident, Saying the Script is the Stickiest He’s Ever Written. You’ll Never Be Able to Escape.]
[This Year’s Best Actor and Actress Awards: Park Gi-woo—Shin Hye-soo.]
[Action Director Jung Gi-hong Uploads a Confident Smile.]
[Drama War Intensifying into War Between Actors? Cast Members Leave Meaningful Posts on SNS. We Won’t Lose.]
The director sighed deeply.
“Romance is romance, action is action. Each has a clear weapon. But I feel like we’re quite ordinary.”
“What do you mean by ordinary?”
“The story is good, but there’s no kick, you know? There’s nothing that smacks you in the back of the head even if you watch it without thinking. Besides, there’s something that really bothers me….”
The director pushed other materials forward.
This time, it was captures of community posts.
[Title: Lee Geum-suk Just Can’t Write Romance]
[You guys think Lee Geum-suk isn’t writing romance, but she just can’t write it. How many years and how many works has she done now, and have you ever seen any romance come out? It’s obvious.]
[Title: Isn’t 808 Too Predictable Though?]
[That’s how all buddy cop dramas are. They start off disliking each other, then they reconcile and become friends. Of course, it’s fun if you write that process well. But what about the fact that it’s boring because there’s no twist?]
PD Choi Hee-won frowned.
“Writer Lee can’t write romance? What nonsense?”
“I know Writer Lee writes romance amazingly well too. But the problem is that only we know that. People close to Writer Lee know, but do viewers know that?”
“Hmm….”
“It’s reasonable that those kinds of stories are circulating.”
The director clasped his hands together.
“Writer Lee, can you just add one kick?”
“A kick?”
“Yeah. Whether it’s romance or a shocking twist, just add one. Come to think of it, our work has Kim Yu-han, who’s a rookie actor, right? If you think about it, we’re starting with a disadvantage in that respect too.”
“You might think so, but it’s an advantage. The results will be different. Rather, I’m confident that the viewership ratings will go crazy thanks to Kim Yu-han.”
“That’s a result-oriented story, what I’m talking about is preparation.”
The director continued firmly.
“Honestly, I understood and didn’t say anything about putting a rookie actor in the lead role, right? So please, just add one kick.”
“A kick, huh.”
“Since we have two male detectives, there’s no room for romance in the first place, but if you think about it, maybe something will come out. Like killing off one of them. Something like that.”
Writer Lee Geum-suk didn’t react at all.
However, it didn’t feel like she was ignoring the director’s words. More like, she just didn’t feel any sense of crisis at all.
“Writer Lee?”
When the director called again.
Writer Lee Geum-suk shrugged.
“Why isn’t there room? There is room for romance for us too.”
“Huh?”
“Room for romance. We have it too.”
The director tilted his head, puzzled.
“I guarantee, when the climax episode airs, all the viewers will be slaves? Will they go with romance or not? They’ll be so curious that they’ll become loyal like they’re bewitched.”
“What? No, what are you talking about when the two leads are men? Are you going to create a couple out of two men or something?”
Then Writer Lee and PD Choi chuckled.
The saying “If you want to deceive your enemy, deceive your allies first” isn’t there for nothing, right? And now is the time to reveal that truth.
Soon, a tablet was held out to the director.
“What’s this?”
“The climax scene.”
“You guys will have shot that well enough on your own, right? What I’m saying isn’t to check this now, I’m saying let’s think about what kind of kick to put in the future?”
But soon the director stopped talking.
The climax scene, which he was watching without much thought, captivated him more than he expected, and towards the end, his eyes widened.
“…?”
It couldn’t be helped.
“…!”
Because Soo-ah’s appearance, soaked to the bone in the rain, was revealed.
Writer Lee Geum-suk asked.
“How is it? Do you still think we’re going to lose?”
“….”
“Bringing in a rookie is a minus, and there’s no room for romance? Well, should we scrap everything and start over from the beginning? From casting to script, just to the director’s taste.”
The director didn’t answer.
No, it was closer to being unable to answer.
And soon he shook his head as if he couldn’t believe it.
“…Where on earth do you find these rookies?”
“We didn’t find her. She just appeared. So? Director-nim, what’s your answer?”
The director’s eyes were still serious.
But the reason for the seriousness was slightly different from before. Currently, his expression was closer to being stunned by the fresh shock.
“PD Choi, Writer Lee.”
The director looked at the two with a determined expression.
“…Let’s just go with this.”
Not long after, an article was shot onto the internet.
[Special Task Force 808. There Will Be No Twists or Romance.]
Just one article.
This was, of course, a huge trap set by PD Choi Hee-won and Writer Lee Geum-suk, and as expected, all sorts of hyenas flocked to it.
It was a fleeting moment before follow-up articles exploded one after another.
[Special Task Force 808, What Confidence Is This?]
[Lee Geum-suk, Did She Finally Give Up on Romance Again?]
But even this was a calculated move by the 808 production team.
And one more thing.
“…Ah, right. Cover her body a little bit.”
Soo-ah’s body, soaked to the bone, was flagged for review.
◈◈◈◈◈
Meanwhile, that night.
With only two days left until the meeting with Director Go Tae-min of ‘Crescendo From Tomorrow’.
The apartment unit used as Mystic’s studio was noisy today. That’s because two people were busily talking.
It was Kim Yi-seo and Seo Yeon-joo.
Seo Yeon-joo said.
“So, from now on, Soo-ah will be using this place too? Well, she’s in Mystic now. I’m kind of looking forward to it.”
“Usually, people dislike it when the number of people increases, right? The space becomes cramped and cleaning becomes more difficult.”
“Why is cleaning difficult? Sun-il can do it.”
They chatted like that for a while.
Kim Yi-seo brought up the main topic first. She took out the script for ‘Crescendo From Tomorrow’ and handed it to Seo Yeon-joo.
“Yeon-joo, I’ll give you a special mission.”
“What is it? Isn’t this a script?”
“It’s not just a script. It’s Director Go Tae-min’s script, no less.”
“…!”
Seo Yeon-joo’s eyes widened.
Soon she pointed to herself with her index finger.
“Me? Representative, did this come to me?”
“It’s for Soo-ah.”
“Ah….”
The hope that had been lingering on Seo Yeon-joo’s face melted away, while on the other hand, she swallowed a tremendous admiration inside.
‘No, how is it that a rookie who hasn’t even aired their first drama already has a giant director courting them? She really is a monster….’
Seo Yeon-joo stuck out her tongue, then sighed.
“So, Representative, why are you showing this to me? Is it so I can get some motivation by watching Soo-ah? If it’s nagging, then pass.”
“That’s not it. Yeon-joo’s role is important today.”
“My role?”
Kim Yi-seo nodded as Yeon-joo tilted her head.
“Yes. You remember Director Kim Jun-gi, right?”
“Of course, I remember. That crazy pervert trash.”
“It’s a shame if Soo-ah rejects this script with a single stroke, right? No, that shouldn’t happen. There’s a great need to grab Director Go Tae-min’s work no matter what.”
“Of course. Ah, could it be…?”
Seo Yeon-joo made an expression as if she understood.
“Soo-ah will arrive soon, so why don’t you try to hype it up a bit beforehand by saying that this script is really good.”
“I understand. I’m good at hyping things up. Trust me.”
“And if Soo-ah refuses, hold her back with me. We’re not doing this because we don’t trust Soo-ah’s eye, we’re doing this so that Soo-ah can think about it as many times as possible.”
“Uh-huh. I know the intention well.”
And after a while.
Soo-ah appeared.
‘Huh?’
Soo-ah was surprised from the start.
‘Wow, amazing. Mystic uses this house as a studio?’
In Soo-ah’s eyes, it was a very luxurious unit. You know, a rich house that would only appear in dramas. Just that kind of spaciousness and interior.
In the meantime, Kim Yi-seo quickly handed over the script first.
“Soo-ah, please check this out.”
“Hmm? A script?”
Kim Yi-seo nodded.
“Remember the big fish I told you about? This is the script that big fish gave me. It already seems like they’ve decided to cast Soo-ah, but I was wondering what it would look like in Soo-ah’s eyes. Take a close look.”
Soo-ah quietly swallowed her tension.
‘The big fish’s script.’
There was excitement mixed in with this tension.
That’s because after ‘Special Task Force 808’ and ‘Sword,’ it was all trash scripts that flopped, right? Soo-ah was excited for that reason. She wanted to be immersed in joy after discovering a good script.
It was then that Seo Yeon-joo smiled brightly.
“Soo-ah, I just read it, you know? But it’s no joke. It’s so good that I would have accepted it right away if it had come to me.”
Saying that makes me even more excited.
*Flip*—!
Soo-ah pretended to read the script.
And quickly utilized her special trait ability. Already, a room called ‘Crescendo From Tomorrow’ had been created in the special trait space.
[Crescendo From Tomorrow]
▶ Implementation elements are insufficient.
▶ Grade 7.
“…?”
And she was flustered.
Soo-ah covered her eyelids.
After a while, she opened her eyes and looked again.
▶ Grade 7.
‘…What? Grade 7? Grade 7?’
Soo-ah’s mind instantly became complicated.
No, how can the script that the big fish brought be Grade 7? No, Director Kim Jun-gi was also said to be a giant, but he was trash. Is that one of those cases? What on earth is it?
What about my excitement that I was going to find a good script!
It was then that Kim Yi-seo and Seo Yeon-joo opened their mouths.
“Soo-ah, how is it?”
“Soo-ah, it’s good, right? You don’t want to miss it, right?”
“….”
Soo-ah looked at them as if she was sorry, then shook her head.
“…I don’t think this is it.”
Soo-ah didn’t want to do this either. Really, sincerely.
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