A One-Act Play Worked a Miracle
A sixty-minute one-act drama had worked a miracle.
“That's it! That's exactly why the Head of the Drama Division, the Head of the Drama Division should—!”
Knock, knock.
At the crisp knock, the door swung open. Beaming from ear to ear, the Head of the Drama Division strode in and clasped both hands of the rookie director fresh off her debut.
“Perfect timing, just perfect! Yesterday's ratings, the reporters' reactions—everything's been wonderful! And the netizens? I don't even need to say it.”
The Drama Division Head's voice was positively giddy. It was, unmistakably, good news.
“Let's put this one-act drama up on our InTube channel. Cut it into ten-minute episodes like a web drama—doesn't that sound great? Think of the view counts, the likes, the comments!”
It had not been long since Jegal Rok and JC ENM had opened up a new horizon with Pachehi. Everyone was slowly beginning to grasp just how much InTube mattered.
“After all, buzz is what matters most, wouldn't you say? Especially now, with the InTube market charging upward! And this just happens to be a play headlined by an actress who was already an InTube star.”
MBS, the trendiest of the three terrestrial broadcasters, seemed determined to seize the opportunity faster than its rivals.
On this side too, the Web Content Department had only just been established. The employees reassigned to manage InTube grumbled among themselves.
“'New department,' my foot. Isn't this basically exile?”
“What are we even supposed to do with InTube? People will watch everything anyway if we just rip the video clips and repost them.”
“New content. You think that makes money? At best a bunch of kids will poke at it. How much ad revenue do you think that brings in?”
First-rate was terrestrial. Second-rate was cable. Third-rate was InTube. That was simply how things were understood. And now first-rate was being told to copy third-rate.
Needless to say, their pride had cracked. Most of them spat out that they were all just aping JC's Jegal Rok—and that Jegal Rok himself had lost his touch anyway.
“Director So! Ye-sol! Let's take a run at the trending videos ourselves!”
It sounded absurd to Director So. The one-act drama had already been broadcast; any viewer who knew who Han Yeo-reum was had almost certainly seen it already.
They might rack up a respectable view count, but climbing all the way onto the trending list? Impossible.
“…The trending videos.”
And yet, somehow. It felt like it could actually work.
Director So's eyes, steeped in exhaustion and hangover, lit up.
“Yes, ma'am. I'll cut it into five or six parts.”
“That's the spirit! That's exactly it. Your instincts really are young, aren't they? Hm?”
If it was Han Yeo-reum, it seemed she could turn the impossible into the possible.
You on the Screen
🔑 Keyword: TV Debut
You've arrived in the wider world! Congratulations on completing your TV debut without a hitch. Now let's push on toward an even bigger screen.
✔ Success Condition: [You have appeared on a terrestrial broadcast station.]
“Got it!”
The mission was finally complete. The rewards came rolling in one after another, and lines of text scrolled up the status window.
Ta-da-da-DUM—!
This was the moment the title was inscribed. Along with a fanfare sound effect, golden sparkles bloomed beside the title.
“So basically, the character is me.”
It would have been nicer if they remembered my actual name, but that was fine. This was the girl who used to play Screaming Woman 1, Onlooker Woman 1, and Woman Sitting in a Restaurant 3.
“And you know how it is.”
When a character and an actor fit together so perfectly that the character feels truly alive onscreen, people start calling you by the role's name instead of your own.
“And that's the one with way more impact, isn't it!”
As if to agree, the status window delivered the last of the rewards.
Well then—mission cleared, title earned. No time like the present.
“Maybe I'll use the one I got last time.”
I dove into my inventory, where the Skill Draw Ticket I'd obtained before was sparkling, practically begging to be used.
The view count is way higher than I expected…!
It hadn't quite matched the interview with Do Gyeo-ul, who had recently started shooting a new drama, but it had closed the gap enough to press right up against her heels.
Rising star or not, her momentum is scary. Seriously unnerving right now.
Reporter Wi already knew about the modest buzz on the community live threads, and about her friend—fellow deodeok Ae-ta-mi—posting screencaps of Not Interested At All to drum up support. But even so, this level of firepower had not been in the forecast.
“What on earth is going on?”
Putting her professional skills to work, Reporter Wi launched into search mode. The moment she typed in Not Interested At All, articles lined up one after another alongside her own.
“…There it is! This is it!”
It was a post from Seonwoo Seon-uk, widely hailed as the nation's foremost critic. Reporter Wi smiled and hit the repost button.
Now even the critics are on board…!
Her chest swelled with pride.
Yeo-reum had debuted through a web drama, which left her vulnerable to being typecast as a B-grade romantic comedy actress. And yet she had gone on to lead a terrestrial one-act drama, and now even the critics were responding positively to its craftsmanship.
At this rate of growth, a leading role in a miniseries might genuinely not be far off!
Reporter Wi pressed her lips together to keep her expression in check as she stared at her article's view count.
The number-one interview with Do Gyeo-ul would probably hold its spot until next month. The impact of a top child actress shattering her hiatus and stepping back into the light was simply not something a rising star could beat.
Making it to number two is impressive in itself. That's what. Do Gyeo-ul's name carries real weight.
MBS's next drama was about to make its appearance. Having to erase the record of its predecessor, which had been yanked off the air early, the network would obviously flood the press with aggressive PR releases.
It'll drop off the list in a few days… but still. What a relief.
What struck Reporter Wi anew was this: Do Gyeo-ul had taken first place on the strength of her name, but Yeo-reum had taken second on the strength of her work's title alone.
After gazing at the two headlines sitting side by side, Reporter Wi threw herself back into her actual job, as busy as ever. The entertainment industry turned exactly as fast as Yeo-reum had always imagined it would.
After all, this was a world where anything that failed to keep putting on a show sank without a trace. Actors and idols, singers and announcers, even models—everyone was desperate to get their news out through Daily Media.
MBS's new drama, its cast, its production team—of course—but also the rival dramas airing in the same timeslot, and the industry's endless parade of scandals, all of it decorated Daily Media without a moment's rest.
And then, a week later, an unexpected article claimed the number-one spot on Daily Media.
Skimming down the article, Jegal Rok gave a small nod.
“Well analyzed.”
It was no throwaway piece of journalism that had simply cribbed a critic's words. The article delivered a scathing assessment of the final work Do Gyeo-ul had made before her hiatus.
The byline belonged to a reporter Jegal Rok remembered. For an entertainment-desk journalist, the man carried a distinctly old-school, set-in-his-ways streak.
“Honestly. The man simply cannot bring himself to write a kind word.”
It made one wonder why he'd become a reporter instead of a critic.
Jegal Rok scrolled down until he found Han Yeo-reum's name. Toward Yeo-reum in the drama's latter half, the article was—contrary to its treatment of Do Gyeo-ul—decidedly warm.
On Jegal Rok's screen, Yeo-reum's photo appeared once again.
Of late, Han Yeo-reum was the actor Jegal Rok watched more closely than any other celebrity in the industry.
Click.
He refreshed the page. The PR releases he had queued up were just about to surface as articles.
JC to claim its place as a home of actors, following its idols — Division Head Jegal Rok: “Please look forward to all-round performers”
Right on schedule, articles about JC's new actor label took over the portal sites. Rubbing his tired eyes, Jegal Rok turned to his calendar.
Tomorrow, at last.
He could not afford to wait any longer. The proper way to handle this kind of attention was to throw more logs on the fire while it still burned. And right now, everyone's eyes were fixed on who would be the first actor JC ENM would raise.
[Han Yeo-reum Meeting]
He was fully resolved to set her name before the world.