Chapter 30
Chapter 30
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 30
Chapter Title: Is the Writer Omnipotent?
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“Looking at the current drama’s progression, it seems like they’re focusing on the love line because they can’t stretch out the story any further.”
“Yes…… You’re spot on.”
“The problem is that it doesn’t match the character traits they’ve shown so far.”
Park Jin-gyu and Lee Se-ha.
The two characters had shown consistent behavior up until now.
It wasn’t that there was no love line at all.
But at their core, both were workaholics.
They focused on their jobs.
Within that, they’d shown sweet, subtle moments without realizing it.
Little by little, they’d grown closer.
Those were the parts that thrilled viewers and kept them on the edge of their seats.
But starting from episode 10, those elements vanished.
The love line took center stage instead of the work.
Dramas generally had a large female audience.
But Black Knight’s Her also had a very high male viewership.
It appealed to both because it was about a prosecutor slaying evil.
That was an element that could make male viewers drop off.
“It’s not good in any way.”
Kim PD had no words, even if he had ten mouths.
Separate from the drama, the original novel stuck faithfully to the storyline and characters.
Thanks to that, comparisons between the drama and the novel started popping up here and there.
As time passed, those comparisons were bound to stand out even more.
“Who’s currently writing the drama scripts?”
“The writers from MBY’s Drama Division are working on it collaboratively.”
In the past, one writer handled a single project.
But starting in the 2000s, the team-based approach from Hollywood yielded visible results.
Watching that, Korea’s film and drama industries began benchmarking it.
The broadcasters followed suit.
It was a way to cut costs on writing fees by having in-house writers collaborate.
‘Just as I expected.’
If they’d had a skilled writer, they wouldn’t have taken such risks.
Or they would’ve come up with a better story on their own.
But with in-house writers, it was different.
They were salaried employees.
Their pay didn’t change based on the drama’s performance.
It might affect their evaluations later, but that was down the road.
Above all, they just needed to do what the higher-ups ordered.
Then their paychecks came steadily.
‘If this keeps up, Black Knight’s Her will flop.’
Episode 2 had already hinted at that possibility.
He couldn’t just sit back and watch.
“Would it be okay if I took a look at the drama scripts?”
“You, Writer?”
“Yes. I’ve written drama scripts in the past. Of course, whether to adopt them is up to the director and PD.”
“We’d welcome that…… The issue is how much to set the royalties at…….”
“You can decide after looking them over.”
Kim PD’s dilemma was understandable.
Novels and scripts.
Same words, but completely different writing styles.
“Whew! Alright. But I can’t guarantee we can match the royalties you want.”
“That’s fine.”
Money wasn’t the issue.
He didn’t want his memories with her ruined.
* * *
A change entered Tae-seong’s daily routine.
Normally, he’d be home by now, ready for bed.
But he sat in front of his computer.
He opened his email to check the one from Kim PD.
[I’ve attached the scripts we’re currently working on. If you can send back the episode 12 script by tomorrow, we can do reshoots. But after tomorrow, it’ll be tough.]
Korea’s drama production environment was incredibly harsh.
Scripts often came out on the day of filming, and editing sometimes happened right up to airtime.
It was even worse when the scriptwriter was separate.
“Side scripts”—single-page ones—arrived on the day all the time.
As a result, quality inevitably dropped as episodes aired.
“Serious.”
Tae-seong sighed as he picked up the scripts.
They’d sent up to episode 14.
It was a relief they weren’t daily side scripts, but the quality was pitiful.
‘If they film like this, the backlash from viewers will be no joke.’
The biggest issue was that they couldn’t find the drama’s fun factor.
It happened often.
The writer pours their heart into it.
Adds what they think are fun elements.
The problem starts where their sense of fun mismatches the audience’s.
If the story veers from what readers expect, complaints erupt.
Then they leave.
Dramas weren’t much different.
‘They’re stuck on the idea that it’s a drama, so they overfocused on the love line. That left almost no room for the ongoing case.’
Black Knight’s Her was romance, but closer to a courtroom drama.
Especially the protagonist delivering justice as a prosecutor—that gave viewers catharsis.
Balancing both was key.
They’d done well so far.
Proof of the director and PD’s skill.
But forcing the story to stretch required serious writing chops.
And the writers lacked them.
“I’ll have to overhaul it all.”
The wrong direction had already started.
He needed to fix episode 12, airing next week.
The prior episodes had already gone off track.
He had to reel those back in.
‘I should’ve done this from the start.’
What if he’d gotten involved with the scripts from the beginning?
Truth be told, before seeing the first script, he’d considered it.
But he’d already taken on so much.
Most of his day went to handling those.
He couldn’t split his time further.
Plus, the first script had satisfied him.
He figured it’d follow his vision.
Even after watching the finished episodes, it matched his thoughts.
So he’d taken a breather.
Realizing that was a mistake didn’t take long.
‘If it’s a mistake, just fix it.’
The mistake itself wasn’t the problem.
How you recover and push forward—that’s what mattered.
Tae-seong knew that well.
* * *
Kim PD tossed and turned all night.
Because of Black Knight’s Her.
“Whew—!”
Just thinking about it brought a sigh.
He’d expected viewer backlash, but it was fiercer than anticipated.
The drama’s popularity meant the fallout hit harder.
‘The drama’s tanking, and the execs upstairs are…….’
There’d been a meeting today too.
The talk was all about extending it as long as possible.
Ad revenue per episode topped ten billion won.
Two more episodes meant twenty billion; five meant over fifty.
From the broadcaster’s view, they wanted to stretch it.
Kim PD knew that full well.
The issue was he found fulfillment in crafting the work, not just the money.
Yet trapped in the broadcaster’s system, he felt suffocated.
‘Wonder how the writer revised it?’
On his way to work.
He checked an email from the original author, Tae-seong.
He’d sent the scripts yesterday, and now revised versions came back.
Just one day.
So expectations were low.
At the office, Kim PD greeted the staff lightly and sat at his computer.
He opened the email and downloaded the files.
“Let’s see…….”
He was worried.
Novels and scripts were worlds apart.
Novels could show everything through descriptions.
Scripts had to spell out situations precisely.
Unlike novels, scripts showed scenes directly, so expression differed.
Those gaps meant entirely different skills and know-how, even for the same story.
‘It’s good?’
The script from Tae-seong followed the basics perfectly.
Above all, the descriptions were so detailed and precise that scenes popped into view just from reading the stage directions.
‘He tidied up the forced love line from the previous episode well.’
He’d even cleaned up their messy plot threads.
Naturally guiding the two toward the case without forgetting.
“Wow…….”
Finishing the last page, Kim PD let out an involuntary exclamation.
Their overdone love line.
He wrapped it up while weaving in the subtle emotions it created for the pair.
Episode 12 centered on the case overall, but slipped in a scene of their nuanced feelings in the final five minutes.
‘This salvages the prior love line push while bringing back the tension of the original case fun. Plus, it adds elements to enrich the story, making extensions feasible without strain?’
She was a veteran PD.
Reading the revised script, she could see how the plot would unfold ahead.
‘To pull this off in one day.’
She marveled at writer Jeong Tae-seong’s brilliance.
But no time to dwell.
Reshoots needed to start now.
She packed up and left the office.
Her smartphone in one hand was already dialing the director.
* * *
“Thanks to your help, Writer, we’re reshooting episode 12.”
“Good to hear.”
“But seriously, you’re amazing. How did you revise it so thoroughly in one day?”
“I have experience writing scripts from before. That helped.”
Experience didn’t mean everyone could do it.
The man before her was no less than a genius.
“By the way, how many episodes are they planning to extend to in the end?”
“It was originally three, but lately talk of five is coming up.”
“Hmm. Five might cause problems again with the current setup.”
Black Knight’s Her was planned for 22 episodes.
Adding five meant a 25% increase.
One extra episode had already caused issues; four more would amplify them.
“So we’d like to ask you to handle the scripts going forward too.”
“My rates are high.”
Jeong Tae-seong stated firmly.
Past memories mattered.
But the present mattered more.
Above all, in this negotiation, he held all the cards.
‘Episode 12’s in reshoots. From the scripts so far, the broadcaster’s writer team has no one capable of carrying that story.’
He knew their hand.
This negotiation would be a breeze for Tae-seong.
* * *
Episode 12 aired.
The newly shot footage.
It trimmed the existing love line and sped through unraveling the case.
“Oh my! What are they gonna do with that bastard?”
“Jeez…… Throw money at it, and they all walk free.”
Early on, it showed the criminal the protagonist was chasing get released.
The corruption in the process laid bare.
Mom pitied the protagonist’s plight; Dad sighed at the drama mirroring real life.
But mid-episode, the protagonist started cracking the case.
Dad, who’d felt the most frustrated by the money-skirting criminal, watched as she turned that against him.
“That’s right! Crime means paying the price!”
Drama magic, but viewers felt the thrill.
Having seized the counterattack’s thread, the protagonist hammered the criminal.
But the criminal wasn’t done.
Legal routes blocked, he plunged them into crisis with illegal means.
In that, Lee Se-ha fell into danger, and Park Jin-gyu took the severe injury in her place.
-No!!
Lee Se-ha’s scream rang out as the close-up showed bloodied Park Jin-gyu.
“Son! Is Park Jin-gyu dying like that?”
“It’s a secret. You’ll find out next week.”
Seeing his mother’s anxious face, Tae-seong smiled in satisfaction.
His two closest fans.
Their reactions alone showed how this episode would land with viewers.