Chapter 46
Chapter 46
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 46
Chapter Title: Is the Author Omnipotent?
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"If that's what the author wants, then I'll cheer you on too."
"Thank you."
"And when you start making the movie, let me know. I'll invest some personally. Haha!"
He said it with a laugh, but he meant it.
No one had watched Jeong Tae-seong the author up close like he had.
He was the one who tackled one impossible task after another.
And every single result had been a massive success.
That's why he figured Tae-seong could pull off a movie too.
Tae-seong smiled at Representative Kwon's sincerity.
"I'll be counting on you then."
"Yes, sir!"
* * *
From the moment he decided to start the company, Tae-seong had all sorts of thoughts running through his head.
The first was his desire to manage his own content from start to finish.
The drama adaptation of *Black Knight's Her* had been the decisive trigger.
Even if things started off well, external factors could always shake them up.
To avoid that, he needed to oversee everything himself from beginning to end.
On top of that, Tae-seong wanted as many people as possible to see the stories he created.
As time passed, novels had become niche content.
There were still plenty of readers, but the mainstream had shifted to video.
YouTube, beloved by people worldwide. Netflix, the top streaming service.
All sorts of video platforms had emerged, and people were flocking to them.
For Tae-seong, who wanted more eyes on his stories, it was the perfect move.
The problem was production.
'Turning my stories into videos costs a fortune.'
A prime example was the blockbuster movie based on a fantasy novel: *The Lord of the Rings*.
It had been produced as a three-part series, but unusually, all three were filmed at once and released sequentially.
The total budget? A whopping 370 million dollars.
'At current exchange rates, that's about 420 billion won.'
An astronomical sum.
Tae-seong had money, sure, but covering that entirely on his own was impossible.
'Even with investors, shooting a film that big in Korea is a stretch.'
Especially for TS Media, which hadn't released any major works yet.
To attract serious investment, they needed proven results first.
'Which story should I go with?'
He ran through the stories he currently owned.
*Return of the SSS-Class Hunter* was out.
Too many battle scenes with all sorts of creatures.
Everything would need CGI, driving up costs sky-high.
It was too much for video production right now.
'*Black Knight's Her* has potential.'
It was a romance.
And it had already been adapted into video once.
But there were hang-ups.
'Korean-style romances have limited appeal overseas. Plus, it's already been turned into a drama recently.'
The story had wrapped up not long ago, so the actors' images were still fresh in people's minds.
Bringing in new faces could spark backlash.
'*Sword Immortal's Return* is too soon as well. That leaves...'
Just *Otherworld Chef*.
The issue? The otherworldly setting would rack up expenses in all sorts of ways.
'Hmm... Should I write something new?'
If he wrote a novel with video adaptation in mind, he had a few ideas.
Various options popped into his head and faded away.
Tae-seong sorted through them one by one, organizing his thoughts on what to do.
* * *
One new task had been added to Tae-seong's routine.
Making lunch.
To save on food costs?
No.
It was a means to boost the quality of the *Otherworld Chef* webtoon version.
What did lunch have to do with webtoon quality? A simple example: the hamburger episode.
Lee Yong-hwan, the colorist on *Otherworld Chef*, had always struggled with food coloring.
His work rarely passed on the first try.
It wasn't that Yong-hwan lacked skill.
He nailed characters, buildings, and backgrounds every time.
Just food coloring gave him trouble.
Or maybe Tae-seong's standards had gotten pickier.
Food was the heart of *Otherworld Chef*, after all.
In the hamburger episode, when Yong-hwan hit a wall, Tae-seong made the dish himself.
Showing the real thing beat relying on imagination or photos.
Yong-hwan saw it, tasted it, and nailed it on the spot.
Watching that, Tae-seong realized something.
Sometimes, showing the actual item was the way to go.
After that, he started cooking lunch during breaks.
It helped the work's quality, but it was also for his staff's health.
They poured themselves into company tasks, but after hours, they worked on personal projects too.
They were storytellers at heart, eager to create their own works. The problem? Their health was suffering.
Those living with parents were somewhat okay.
But the ones on their own subsisted on ramen and fast food.
He wanted to give them at least one proper meal.
So, despite the hassle, he carved out the time.
"Today's lunch is noodles."
"Ooh!"
"Perfect with this rain!"
"Best ever!"
The webtoon version of *Otherworld Chef* featured noodles in this arc.
And fittingly, rain was pouring down outside.
Tae-seong had prepared broth at home using dried gizzard shad, anchovies, veggies, and more.
Broth was the soul of noodle soup.
He also whipped up a separate seasoning sauce for personal tastes: soy sauce, sliced cheongyang chilies, and domestic red pepper powder.
'Boil the noodles...'
He even made green onion pancakes.
Not in the webtoon, but noodles alone wouldn't fill anyone up for long.
With the rain, it was a spot-on side.
Tae-seong chopped veggies and seafood to the right sizes.
He sliced onions thin for easy eating.
"Wow... Representative, your knife skills are insane."
Ki Min-jeong, who had volunteered to assist, marveled.
"Cooking's a hobby."
"This is way beyond hobby level. You could outdo most chefs on YouTube."
"YouTube chefs post videos?"
"Yeah! I eat alone a lot, so I watch mukbangs and cooking shows. Even pro chefs film and upload there."
"Oh, that's interesting."
"You should try it sometime when you have free time."
"Seems like it would take too much time."
"No way! It's the era of one-person media. They say one video takes 3-4 hours to shoot. Editing takes longer, though."
"I see. Might look into it. Thanks for the tip."
"Hehe!"
"Can you tell everyone to get ready for lunch?"
"Sure!"
As Ki Min-jeong left the pantry, Tae-seong mulled over her words.
'One-person media...'
* * *
Back home, Tae-seong washed up and sat at his computer.
He logged into YouTube and checked out the uploaded content.
"So diverse."
Game streams, songs, food, memes—you name it.
It felt like every type of content in the world was crammed in there.
"Some racking up millions of views."
Of course, those were a tiny fraction overall.
But the market was undeniably huge.
"One-person media..."
He searched on a portal site.
The one-person media scene was booming, growing daily.
YouTube went without saying, but there was TwitCasting, AfreecaTV, and more.
Live streaming let individuals broadcast and chat with viewers in real time.
But that wasn't what Tae-seong wanted.
'I want to turn stories into content. Not streaming.'
He focused solely on YouTube.
'Hmm... Make videos and upload to YouTube, and the whole world can watch. Cuts out distribution costs.'
The question was, what story to use.
"Above all, YouTube viewers want short clips—5 or 10 minutes—not long tales. Long-form doesn't fit."
Then, inspiration struck.
"Wait..."
For 10-minute shorts, the omnibus episode format was ideal.
He had exactly one story written that way.
"*Otherworld Chef*..."
It was about the protagonist whipping up dishes and getting tangled in events.
But its style differed from his other novels.
Because of the food.
Each episode featured different dishes that drove or resolved the action.
"One dish per episode... Tailor the plot around it..."
It could work.
This approach meant skipping the large-scale battle scenes from the novel.
But those were just spectacle for readers anyway.
The focus was always the food.
Zero in on that, and it could make great videos.
'Let's do it.'
YouTube's biggest perk? Anyone could upload videos—no barriers to entry.
That night.
Tae-seong stayed up till dawn, digging into one-person media info.
* * *
In the past, one-person media thrived on low quality but high originality.
Lately, things were changing.
Originality was still key, but production quality was rising fast.
Top creators now used pro gear for their videos.
'What I'm aiming for is drama- or movie-like. Video quality matters more than most.'
He bought equipment.
Cameras, lights—everything needed for filming.
Not a one-off; better to stock up early.
'Better hire pros.'
He considered doing it all himself at first.
But that would eat too much time.
Especially since he planned to build a full filming team starting with this.
Hiring talent early wasn't a bad idea.
'Post a job listing...'
He didn't plan to hire a ton at first.
Just the bare minimum to start shooting.
'I'll write the script myself.'
He dove into scripting and dialogue—the backbone of the shoot.
The base was the original *Otherworld Chef*.
But the filming style didn't match the story flow, so he basically rewrote it.
Not hard.
He already had the shoot planned out in his head.
Writing the script to match was straightforward.