Survival Island Airs
Returning to the company building with Manager Kim Min-su, Yeon-woo broke a sweat trying to get CEO Jeong Hyeok and Executive Director Yoon Mi-yeon to understand the situation.
Well, it's already done, and I don't necessarily have to make them understand…
Truthfully, Jeong Hyeok and Yoon Mi-yeon weren't the important part.
Once the program started airing, a flood of interview requests would pour into the company.
In the Korean cultural climate, after all, a man who had never served in the military winning a survival competition that amounted to mock combat — sweeping every veteran competitor in the process — sat well outside the bounds of common sense.
Though the idea that fully discharged veterans automatically have an advantage in a survival game is itself flawed…
The contestants had each mustered out of units civilians tended to call "tough," but that didn't mean they were good at survival games.
Honestly, hard to buy that.
The show's concept itself had been one-dimensional from the start.
Units that trained for this kind of mock combat as individual free-for-alls rather than team exercises were vanishingly rare. And if the person wasn't a career soldier, related training would be few and far between.
If the training is that thin, actual combat experience is of course out of the question.
In other words, being a military veteran offered little real advantage beyond having fired a rifle once or twice. Someone who regularly played survival games as a hobby would be far better positioned.
I need to build our response strategy around that angle.
They needed the company on the same page for whatever came next.
After CEO Jeong Hyeok and Manager Kim Min-su left the conference room, only Yeon-woo, Executive Director Yoon Mi-yeon, and Jin Yu-han remained.
"So Yeon-woo is a military enthusiast who usually likes FPS games and occasionally does survival games?"
"Yes. If they want press materials, responding that way would be best."
"Hmm, got it."
Yoon Mi-yeon nodded at Yeon-woo's words and typed notes into her smartphone.
Then Jin Yu-han, who had been listening quietly beside them, raised a hand.
"I can help with that."
"Huh? By the way, why are you even here?"
When Yeon-woo asked, Jin Yu-han answered as if it were nothing.
"I was in a meeting about a movie I want to shoot early next year. And I went on a variety show too, remember."
"Ah — you filmed Rooftop Movie Theater? Jin-uk hyung did Dawn Market."
"I believe Actor Jin's film Summer, That Cold One was the topic of the shoot?"
Jin Yu-han nodded at Yoon Mi-yeon's question.
"Yes. Since the movie is about school days, they asked what I actually do for fun with friends off-camera."
Yeon-woo and Yoon Mi-yeon both nodded, focusing on what he was saying. Truthfully, Yeon-woo was a little curious himself about what Jin Yu-han did for fun with friends in private.
Wait — does he even have friends besides me in the first place.
While Yeon-woo entertained that mildly disloyal thought, Jin Yu-han took a sip from his teacup and continued.
"So I told them about the survival game I did with you and the guys a few years back. That episode airs this Thursday, so we can lay some groundwork."
Hearing that, Yeon-woo thought of Kim Jun-su and Woo Seong-sik — now Real Soldiers.
"Has it already been a few years. Well done, though. That alone should be enough of an alibi that I regularly enjoyed survival games as a hobby."
"Having to manufacture an alibi for something you're just originally good at must be exhausting for you too."
Yeon-woo scratched the back of his head at Jin Yu-han's words.
This time wasn't anywhere near the level of that survival game with the guys…
Jin Yu-han had played alongside him before, so he knew Yeon-woo was good at survival — but if he reexamined the feats Yeon-woo had pulled off while filming on the island this time, he would definitely have something to say.
Well, even if he does, it wouldn't really be a problem…
What could he do about it? There was no chance anyone would seriously suspect that a former NIS agent had reincarnated as an actor.
After thinking for a moment, Yeon-woo chuckled.
After he returned from the island, filming on Parabola proceeded smoothly. With a cast of actors who were all deeply confident in their craft, there were no snags at all.
Midway through the shoot, they secured filming cooperation from the Hankuk University Gymnasium and captured frames that had never been shown on broadcast before.
Yeon-woo nodded, recalling what the university official had said.
That's actually fair. Broadcasts aren't some kind of privilege, and those network people are forever demanding filming cooperation and understanding at the drop of a hat — there's no obligation to accommodate every single request.
Thanks to that, they were able to shoot the basketball match scene for episode four of the drama at the Hankuk University Gymnasium, a location that had never officially appeared on air.
Of course, it wasn't only Parabola that was going smoothly.
He also received reports that SBC's blockbuster-scale drama Daytona, slotted in the same time period, was progressing quite well in production.
I figured Baeksol's finances were so desperate they'd scale back production support — but looking at this, they managed to raise quite a bit of capital after all.
He still hadn't heard any word of trouble with Daytona's funding. And that was actually better for them.
The more money they pour in, the more they lose when we beat them head-on.
Reading the report Han Hae-un had sent, Yeon-woo stroked his chin.
Hmm. I still expected Baeksol to pull some petty tricks, given it's a drama in the same time slot.
Whether they were simply busy these days or confident they could casually crush a sports drama airing on TVM, there had been no particular movement.
Buzz—
While organizing documents in his office and sorting his thoughts on Lake Film and the Daytona they were producing, Yeon-woo heard a vibration and picked up the smartphone on the table.
"Yes, Min-su hyung."
"We'll arrive within three minutes. Whoo — looking forward to today."
Yeon-woo chuckled at Kim Min-su's tone.
"Min-su hyung, you said you already saw everything from the island's situation room. The actual broadcast won't be that different, will it?"
Kim Min-su answered that wasn't the point.
"That's exactly why I'm looking forward to it. Since I've already seen it, I can't wait to see how the company family and the internet react. Hehe — just made a right turn at the intersection."
"Got it. I'll come down."
After hanging up, Yeon-woo put on his coat and stepped out the front door.
Today was the first broadcast of Survival Island.
Gathering at the company building to watch together whenever a drama premiered had somehow become tradition, and even though this variety show wasn't a drama, it was a large enough project that they had decided to assemble and watch the premiere as a group.
He had heard from PD Yoon Chang-joon that it was scheduled as an eight-episode series — and since variety shows aired once a week, the run would last the same eight weeks as a sixteen-episode drama.
Thanks to that, when Survival Island ends, it'll hand the baton off to Parabola almost perfectly.
How many viewers they could peel away from the competing blockbuster drama was still unknown, but the impact would almost certainly scale with the variety show's success.
When Yeon-woo arrived at the company building and entered the large conference room with Kim Min-su, a sizable crowd had already gathered.
"Yo — the protagonist's here."
Son Jin-uk waved at him. Looking at Son Jin-uk, Yeon-woo smiled.
"Hyung. How was filming Dawn Market?"
"Thought my back was gonna snap."
Chuckling at Son Jin-uk's exaggeration, Yeon-woo glanced around the room.
Quite a turnout.
It was a late-night variety show, so attendance was voluntary — but a fair number of employees from both Entertainment and Media seemed to have shown up for the large conference room.
Gong Min-jeong from the planning team, who had locked down the PPL for the smartwatch they'd put to such good use during the competition, was there. So was Manager Im Jae-uk, who handled Jeong Cheol-min.
Looking at how Teacher Cheol-min isn't here, Im Jae-uk must have come on his own because he wanted to.
Watching him smile and chat with the other management staff, he seemed to have mixed into the company reasonably well.
A catering company had laid out finger foods in advance, and employees stood in small clusters around the conference room, snacking and talking among themselves.
"Oh, Hee-jin's here too?"
"Of course. Our Yeon-woo filmed a variety show for the first time in ages. He should still get a lot of screen time in the first episode, right?"
"Right? He won't get eliminated right away, will he? Quite a few people around me have been asking about the survival — begging for spoilers."
"There were a ton of clickbait articles online too. Team Leader Gong doesn't know the content either, right?"
Gong Min-jeong nodded at Jeong Hee-jin's question.
"Nope. I haven't heard anything separately either."
Of everyone gathered today, only CEO Jeong Hyeok, Executive Director Yoon Mi-yeon, Jin Yu-han, and Kim Min-su knew about Yeon-woo's victory. He didn't suspect anyone of leaking information outside — but there was no need to deliberately tell them either.
Yeon-woo listened quietly to the employees' conversation and nodded to himself.
Those people are all viewers too. No need to spoil it and ruin the fun.
Then, after the SL Electronics smartwatch commercial, the variety show's intro began.
"Oh — it's starting!"
Someone called out, and every head in the conference room turned toward the large screen at the front.
Throughout human history, certain questions have been asked again and again — no matter how childish some people might call them.
Who wins in a fight between a tiger and a lion? Who wins between the Triads and the Yakuza? There have even been questions about who would win if a humidifier fought a dehumidifier.
In that spirit, we invited everyone in the entertainment industry who prides themselves on having served in the toughest units the military has to offer.
After a brief opening sequence, the program explained the production team's concept and began introducing the contestants one by one.
…SOU police special unit veteran and singer Min Jun-gyeong. SWC Special Warfare Command veteran Kang Hak-joon. 35th Commando Battalion veteran Bae Shin-woo. And the man whose casting news alone set the Korean internet on fire from the production stage…
The grand music cut off abruptly, and the screen filled with Yeon-woo mid-interview.
Watching Yeon-woo answer with a bright, pure-hearted smile like an ordinary young man, laughter erupted around the conference room. It wasn't that Yeon-woo himself was funny so much as the complete one-eighty from the solemn, grand-music-backed introductions of the other contestants — the contrast was so sharp it naturally pulled smiles out of everyone.
Beside him, Son Jin-uk jabbed Yeon-woo in the shoulder.
"Hey. That's a lie. The only game you know how to play is Halli Galli."
"Well…"
There was no fooling Son Jin-uk, who had known him since childhood.
After that, the broadcast introduced Gagul-do, the island where the survival would take place, and briefly explained the rules. With more than enough footage already in the can and a clear need to hook viewers from the start, the show moved quickly past the setup — cutting straight to the players being blindfolded, dropped at separate locations, and the match beginning.
And on the screen, Player 7 started running down a forest path.