Chapter 132: Narrative
Chapter 132: Narrative
At the moment Episode 10 of Doctor Princess ended, it was already close to midnight. Yet the lights in the JTBN Drama Department office in Sangam-dong showed no sign of turning off.
Employees who would normally rush home after work sat frozen in their seats, staring intently at their monitors. The tension was palpable. Everyone was waiting for only one thing—the ratings.
“Shouldn’t they be out by now?”
“Just a moment… the server’s a bit slow…”
One employee wiped his face with both hands and nervously shook his leg. Episode 10 was that important.
Yesterday’s Episode 9 rating had been 32%. It had tied with Episode 3, which had become a hot topic because Lee Yuna appeared as a cameo.
Of course, it was an astonishing number. But internally, it still felt slightly below expectations. Compared with the explosive online reactions and buzz, the increase in ratings had seemed somewhat disappointing.
Meanwhile, the Drama Director alone remained calm.
“Don’t worry. The real wave always comes afterward.”
His gaze was full of conviction. Episode 9 had only been the warm-up. Even if it had not immediately translated into ratings numbers, it had pushed viewers’ emotional temperature to its limit.
The point where that compressed emotion would explode—that was Episode 10 today.
“Besides, the reward vacation is on the line this time. So don’t worry and stay sharp.”
At the director’s words, the employees’ eyes lit up again.
Reward vacation.
Those sweet two words were what kept their exhausted souls going.
Then suddenly—
“I-it’s out!”
The youngest PD shouted.
Every gaze in the office immediately turned toward him.
The director jumped to his feet. “What percentage?”
The junior PD rubbed his eyes as if he could not believe what he was seeing on the monitor. Then he stammered.
“Th-the number is…!”
“Ah, come on! What is it? Stop dragging it out and say it!”
“F-forty… forty-one percent.”
“…What?”
For a moment, silence fell.
People looked at one another, wondering if they had heard incorrectly.
Then reality sank in.
The employees’ expressions slowly filled with joy.
“Waaaaaaah!”
“This is insane! Forty-one percent! Forty-one percent!”
“We finally broke 35%!”
They hugged each other, pounding one another’s backs in celebration. All the stress they had endured vanished instantly.
“Director! Our reward vacation! We can go, right? For real?”
“Bali! Hawaii! Or Europe?!”
Excited employees clung to the director.
The director himself had been standing there with his mouth open in disbelief.
Then he burst into hearty laughter.
“Go wherever you want! I’ll send you all!”
“Waaaaaaah!”
“As soon as the drama ends, pack your bags and get ready to leave! Anyone whose passport is expired—renew it immediately!”
Cheers from the Drama Department echoed down the corridor and throughout the entire broadcasting station.
Their content was shaking all of South Korea.
The greatest thrill a creator could feel wrapped around them.
The next morning, Friday.
The Promotion & Marketing Team office at Flash Entertainment.
Ring—ring—
As soon as 9 a.m. arrived, the office filled with the nonstop ringing of telephones. Employees had to grab the receivers the moment they arrived at work.
“Yes, Flash Entertainment Promotion Team.”
“Ah, reporter. Yes, yes.”
Similar conversations could be heard everywhere.
“I’m sorry, but we currently cannot provide an official response regarding that matter.”
“My apologies. Actor Ryu Sunho is extremely busy with filming schedules at the moment, so we will confirm the details and get back to you.”
After hanging up, one employee sighed deeply and leaned back in his chair.
“Wow… reporters are swarming in like crazy. Do they already know something?”
“What are they saying?”
“They’re asking if the heart-transplant setup yesterday was actually proposed by Ryu Sunho rather than the writer. Whether it’s connected to his Ministry of Health and Welfare ambassador work.”
“Same here. One reporter was practically certain. Said he was only calling as a courtesy to confirm and that he’d write the article anyway.”
“That’s just obvious bluffing. They’re fishing.”
“Still…”
A strange atmosphere filled the office.
Employees exchanged glances.
Truthfully, they themselves were almost certain.
“…Honestly. Sunho did it, right?”
“Probably…? I glanced at Management Team 2 earlier and the atmosphere looked exactly like that.”
“Just like with Two Table, and the pop-up store before that. Who else could come up with ideas like this? This is obviously Ryu Sunho’s style.”
“Then why keep it secret? If we just confirm it and release an article, it would be huge.”
At the rookie employee’s innocent question, the Promotion & Marketing Team Leader, who had been quietly observing, finally spoke.
“No. Pretending not to know is the right move right now.”
“Huh? Why?”
“Think about it. This is a public-interest campaign. If our agency is the one that first says, ‘This was our actor’s idea! Amazing, right?’ how would that look?”
The team leader gestured with his fingers as he continued explaining.
“If we’re not careful, the good intention gets diluted and it could look like the actor is just showing off for his own image. That’s exactly the kind of thing that invites backlash.”
“Ah…”
“But if a third party—like the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the drama production company, or the writer—reveals first that it was Ryu Sunho’s idea?”
The employees’ eyes brightened.
“Then the praise would naturally go toward Ryu Sunho.”
“Exactly. The appearance of it becomes completely different.”
The team leader smiled calmly.
“Why do you think Sunho is deliberately holding back from speaking? He’s waiting for that timing. It’s all part of the plan.”
“Wow… he’s seriously smart. That’s chilling.”
“It’s Ryu Sunho. What else is new?”
“Seriously. We were worrying about the most pointless thing in the world.”
“Right. So all we have to do is block the reporters’ calls.”
The employees regained their energy and picked up the ringing phones again.
Their confident expressions while handling questions from reporters revealed pride in the actor they represented.
The impact of Episodes 9 and 10 of Doctor Princess far exceeded expectations.
For an entire week, discussions about it flooded both online and offline spaces.
[Han Jusin’s Legendary Line Before the Royal Delegation… “You Don’t Need a Crown to Perform Surgery”]
[Robert Moon Declares Support for Alicia Yun… Viewers Moved by the First Choice of the Man Carrying ‘Cheon Seonghyeon’s Heart’]
[Episode 10 Perfectly Pays Off Episode 9 Shock… Two Consecutive ‘Legendary’ Episodes Drive Ratings Surge]
[Doctor Princess Breaks 41% Viewership… Surpasses the Dreaded 40% Wall]
Discussion of ratings and the drama’s quality was inevitable.
But the media also focused on the message delivered by the drama.
[“Let Death Not Be Meaningless” — A Drama Story That Changed Reality]
[Organ Donation Pledges Surge After Broadcast… The Power of ‘Positive Influence’]
The heavy topic of organ donation had been naturally woven into the drama’s narrative. News outlets covered it repeatedly.
[“Explosion in Organ Donation Registrations” Causes Server Crash — ‘A Good Shutdown’]
The numerical results were clear.
Within one week after Episode 10 aired, the number of people registering as organ-donation volunteers more than doubled compared with the same period the previous year. The servers had even temporarily crashed.
That alone showed the scale of the impact.
A smile spread across my face.
It worked perfectly.
Behind all of this was a meticulous strategy.
Narrative Transportation.
A theory frequently used in advertising and marketing psychology.
When the public becomes deeply immersed in a story, the boundary between reality and fiction blurs, and they psychologically become transported into the narrative.
Critical thinking temporarily pauses. Instead, they emotionally synchronize with the protagonist.
In that process, emotional, behavioral, and sensory experiences are strengthened. And those experiences ultimately influence real-world decisions and actions.
Of course, if the persuasive intent is too obvious, it backfires.
That was why so many public-service advertisements failed.
People instinctively resist when they feel someone is trying to lecture or persuade them.
So it had to be integrated naturally into the story.
While I was thinking about it, something Park Juwon had casually said came to mind.
“I’m thinking of dying properly this time. I want to leave behind a performance of a lifetime.”
So I connected that setup with an episode of Doctor Princess.
A crossover linking the worlds of two dramas.
Because the connection felt emotionally convincing rather than forced, viewers accepted the message without resistance.
This wasn’t my achievement alone.
If Han Seungwoo had not actively stepped forward, persuading the broadcasting station and the drama writers would have been extremely difficult.
And the real-world foundation mattered as well.
Even if the storytelling was excellent, if the families of donors were treated poorly in reality, it would only create disappointment.
But the Ministry of Health and Welfare was already prepared.
For several years they had been improving respect and support systems for organ donors and their families.
Dedicated coordinators. Expanded funeral-support services. Memorial parks.
Because of that, the system now provided one of the highest levels of recognition for donors in the world.
And the psychological satisfaction of donor families had reached a world-class level.
People simply didn’t know about it due to lack of publicity.
I had merely brought that hidden perception to the surface.
As things unfolded, people became increasingly curious about who had proposed and carried out this idea.
—Please reveal who planned this!
—If the writer did it I’ll be their fan forever
└But isn’t the writer a rookie? The broadcasting station, Ministry of Health and Welfare, and production company were all involved—could they really do that alone?
└Rookies can be crazy talented these days lol
—This feels like a broadcasting-station executive project… like the drama director and the Ministry planned it months ago
└Yeah, probably someone in programming or executive planning
└Still, the writer must’ve finalized the script
—Am I the only one who thinks this feels very Ryu Sunho-like?
└Right, he’s the Ministry ambassador
└Yeah I saw this and immediately thought the advertising genius did it again lol
Public opinion wandered in a maze.
I had already strongly requested the Ministry beforehand.
Please keep the fact that I proposed this idea completely secret during the early stage of the campaign.
If my name appeared from the beginning, public attention would shift from the campaign’s content to Ryu Sunho as a person.
I could not allow the message to be overshadowed by the messenger.
So at first, people would focus purely on the drama and the campaign.
Then when the buzz peaked and began to decline slightly, the truth would be revealed—reigniting the conversation.
That was the most effective viral loop.
However, as the silence dragged on, people with twisted intentions gradually began to emerge.
—Honestly it’s obviously not Ryu lol if he did it he’d already be bragging everywhere
└Yeah since he didn’t do it he’s keeping quiet this time lol
—He’s supposedly the Ministry ambassador but just trying to take credit lol where’s the shame
—People keep saying Ryu Sunho this Ryu Sunho that lol what a ridiculous bubble
└Just leave them alone, he’s their idol
└His image-making must’ve been expensive so they’re milking it to the bone lol
Just as their momentum was growing, the Ministry of Health and Welfare released an official interview article.
[Minister of Health and Welfare: “We Thank Actor Ryu Sunho, the Hidden Contributor to the Organ Donation Campaign”]
[“The Drama Crossover Idea Was Personally Proposed by Ryu Sunho”]
[From Serving as an Unpaid Ambassador to Offering the Idea Himself… Ryu Sunho’s Sincerity Resonates]
The article was detailed.
It included copies of the meeting minutes from when I first proposed the idea. It explained how Han Seungwoo and I had repeatedly visited the writers to persuade them. It even mentioned how I had insisted that the campaign remain the focus rather than my name.
—This is crazy… Ryu Sunho really did it?
—Wow… he even brought a full proposal
└They even released the meeting minutes in case people doubted it lol
—Where are the people who said he was stealing credit? He didn’t steal a spoon—he prepared the whole table
└Different level entirely… while others just sit around hating, Ryu Sunho stayed quiet without bragging about what he did
—God Sunho… what even are you
—This is real positive influence
└People who said it was image-making should try making something of their own lives first
The malicious commenters fell silent and disappeared.
The comment sections quickly filled with praise.
The pattern is always the same.
They attack the moment they see a weakness. But when the situation reverses, they disappear and search for their next target.
Which is why there was no point wasting energy stressing over enemies without form.
Focus only on the variables I could control.
That was better for both mental health and achieving my goals.
While I continued monitoring reactions with satisfaction, one article pinned at the top of the main page caught my eye.
The moment I read the headline, a strange sound escaped me.
“…Huh?”
[British Royal Family Mentions Korean Drama Doctor Princess: “A Remarkable Work”]
Why was the British Royal Family involved here?