Chapter 34
Chapter 34
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 034
Chapter Title: First Broadcast (1)
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Kwon Seonghyeon’s eyes were serious.
“You’re still doubting it, aren’t you?”
As if reading Yeonwoo’s thoughts, Kwon Seonghyeon spoke up.
“I don’t blame you for that. I saw your potential, but it seems you can’t see it for yourself. Still, there’s a way to know without seeing it firsthand, so I wanted to show you.”
“What if those people hadn’t moved the way you thought they would?”
Kwon Seonghyeon’s actions were a double-edged sword.
He claimed to trust his convictions, but unless he was a fortune-teller who could read the future, those convictions could easily be wrong.
Even his mother, Lady Kang, a full-fledged shaman, had always shied away from reading the future because it was too draining.
“I was certain it wouldn’t fail. Light doesn’t lie, after all.”
“…….”
No matter how he thought about it, Kwon Seonghyeon wasn’t normal.
Though he’d known that for a while now...
“Did you see the part where it says I’m Yeonwoo-ssi’s Fan No. 1?”
“Uh... yeah...”
“I feel a little wronged. I’m Yeonwoo-ssi’s real Fan No. 1. Well, as long as you know, that’s fine.”
“Yeah...”
Yeonwoo brushed it off with a vague reply.
It definitely didn’t feel bad.
“Fan, huh...”
A word he’d thought had nothing to do with him.
If his life so far were expressed in colors, it would mostly be dark and drab ones.
Because of his “special trait,” he was always met with scorn and isolation.
But now...
“It’s strange.”
It didn’t feel bad.
No, it was fascinating.
The fact that some stranger whose face he didn’t even know acknowledged him, supported him, and even cheered him on.
“You can’t forget that I’m No. 1.”
The guy who’d dragged him off to take some test without asking.
Still, Yeonwoo decided to let Kwon Seonghyeon off the hook.
***
After the coffee truck visit.
The atmosphere on set brightened dramatically.
Especially after Kwon Seonghyeon’s fan club posted “Yeonwoo-ssi sightings,” which caught the media’s attention and drew even more eyes.
The spark from Kwon Seonghyeon’s SNS had already ignited interest, and this fanned the flames.
“Director’s face has been glowing lately. He was getting chewed out by the station head and promo team over that idol, but now he’s in the clear!”
Just as Min Writer said, Director Heo showed up on set beaming, as if the gloom had never happened.
“We got a special slot!”
“For what?”
“That making-of video we shot to polish our image. It landed a special broadcast!”
“Already?”
“The station head said to strike while the iron’s hot.”
SNS and all the internet forums were already buzzing, with expectations for “DimaGo” skyrocketing.
“I loaded it up with tons of Yeonwoo-ssi footage! You’re our lucky charm!”
“Huh?”
“Lucky charm. Our good-luck mascot.”
No, what was with that cringe-worthy nickname?
The director grinned as he explained.
“Heard our drama got picked as one of the most anticipated for Q3? Just a bit ago, people were treating it like a flop before it even aired! Ha. This industry’s as superstitious as it gets. Judging box office success off a bit of bad luck... But now all that trash talk’s been shut down!”
Director Heo let out a hearty laugh, looking utterly relieved.
[See? That guy’s not right in the head either...]
Child Spirit muttered as he watched Director Heo throw his arms up toward the sky, laughing.
The Child Spirit, who’d been absent for the past few days, had returned at dawn the day before yesterday.
It was nothing unusual for the guy who vanished at the drop of a hat.
“Anyway, Yeonwoo-ssi, I packed your footage in there like it’s the main event! You can look forward to it!”
“Yeah... sure...”
“The time slot’s perfect too. We got lucky! Some other show’s schedule fell through, so I swooped in and snagged it. Getting the slot this quick is some serious good fortune!”
The director threw his arms up again, roaring with laughter about how the heavens were on their side.
“I’ve gotta go spread this great news again! Hahaha! Can’t wait to see the faces of those who said I was washed up!”
Being a making-of film, it had plenty of rough edges in footage and content.
But the drama team wasn’t worried at all.
“This is gonna be a smash hit. Nobody’s expecting movie-level polish—they just want to satisfy their curiosity about the drama. That’s more than enough to make it work!”
Someone on the team even boasted confidently.
And two days later, on a weekend evening.
The making-of film, crafted with the editing team’s blood, sweat, and tears, finally aired.
***
[“Dear My Ghost,” recovering from a rough patch: “It’s still alive~!”]
[Kwon Seonghyeon and Min Yerin: “Insane chemistry” blows fresh wind into rom-coms!]
[Heartwarming “DimaGo” set vibes. Viewers clamor: “One hour isn’t enough!”]
[“DimaGo” tops most-anticipated dramas! “Can’t wait for airdate.”]
“Kuuh! That’s more like it!”
“Man, my stomach’s finally settling.”
“You have no idea how much soda I chugged yesterday. At least four PET bottles!”
“Oh... That’s why PD was burping all morning.”
“Hey! Think positive! My burps are proof the sweet potato’s gone down!”
The morning after the making-of aired.
The set was overflowing with upbeat energy.
The rebound from Kwon Seonghyeon’s SNS had exploded into a full blaze with the video release.
“Thinking about that punk Lee Deokchun still makes me feel like I’ve swallowed a million sweet potatoes.”
“With Director Heo and Min Writer on board, plus pre-production—not some last-minute script—and Kwon Seonghyeon and Min Yerin? If this flops, that’d be the weird combo!”
Everyone seemed to have grudges to air.
“Hey! Yeonwoo-ssi! You’re here? Watch it last night?”
Spotting Yeonwoo, Director Heo waved enthusiastically, flashing a huge grin.
Heads turned toward Yeonwoo at the director’s voice.
“Oh! Our Grim Reaper!”
“Ku! The star of last night arrives!”
Eyes sparkled everywhere.
“You saw it, right, Yeonwoo-ssi? I stuffed your scenes in there big-time!”
“Yeah... kinda...”
He had watched it.
Sort of.
He couldn’t keep his eyes open the whole time.
[Ahahahaha! It was hilarious! Saying he looks so creepy because he killed the water ghost and walked out covered in grudge aura without a care! Ahahahaha!]
Child Spirit wheezed with laughter.
“Shut up.”
Fortunately, only Yeonwoo could hear Child Spirit’s laughter.
That didn’t make it any less embarrassing, though.
Just as Child Spirit said, the scene Director Heo had proudly edited was the one where Yeonwoo emerged after saving Min Yerin.
[It’s not even a proper scene! It was just caught by chance! Why’s everyone falling for it? Ahahahaha!]
Somehow, the editing team had worked magic.
Yeonwoo stepping out from the water’s edge looked every bit the Grim Reaper.
Dressed in all black slacks.
His wet, thin shirt clung, emphasizing his pale skin.
And the lighting?
“Of all times... Why’d the shadows have to hit like that?”
It hit right at the perfect moment—sudden intense light bursting from the surrounding darkness.
The abruptly lit spotlight flashed on Yeonwoo’s face before dimming back, casting deep shadows.
Half his face shrouded, trudging out from the water—it was downright chilling.
Even he, knowing the context, almost bought it as staged direction.
And that wasn’t the end of the crazy parts.
“Our editing team killed it. They even layered in CG. See it? Fit perfectly, right?”
“Yeah...”
“Wasn’t it just like fog? Deep night in the mountains. The Grim Reaper emerging with the limp heroine amid sacred mist! Like he’s saying, ‘Your time hasn’t come yet’!”
Director Heo shuddered with excitement.
“It perfectly captures his cold, by-the-book nature! Sure, we can’t use it in the drama, but airing it like this is a godsend. Gives Yeonwoo-ssi some real presence too.”
Just as Director Heo said, after the making-of’s successful airing.
Articles about Yeonwoo started popping up.
[“Dear My Ghost”’s Grim Reaper: “I thought he was the real deal.”]
[DimaGo’s Grim Reaper, walking out of death itself—who is he?]
[Rookie actor “Grim Reaper” Kang Yeonwoo... Debuts stunning performance]
All cringe-inducing headlines.
[Yeonwoo! Check this out! There’s an article about you!]
Child Spirit was the only one thrilled.
For a ghost, he navigated the internet scarily well, pinpointing facts Yeonwoo didn’t want to know.
‘Oh. Not just Child Spirit.’
-Yeonwoo-ssi. See the articles? The post from our fan page made the news.
Kwon Seonghyeon had messaged excitedly too.
Hearing that the post—which had floored him when he read it—had gone viral via articles, Yeonwoo quietly closed his eyes.
It’s pitch black, right? That’s your future.
It felt like someone was whispering that.
‘If I die, cause of death: embarrassment.’
-Can’t we really watch together?
-No. We can’t.
-Why? Worried you didn’t make the cut? Don’t be. I snuck into the editing room to check—it came out super cool.
Kwon Seonghyeon had smiled softly as he said it.
‘No. Why’d you check my scenes?’
The question nearly escaped, but Yeonwoo held it back.
-It’s the first broadcast. I want to watch alone.
-Ah... You’re nervous. Watching with others is better in those cases. Group monitoring’s the way to go.
With that, Kwon Seonghyeon triggered another:
[Harvestable Lifespan: +4 days]
This time, Yeonwoo firmly looked away, pretending not to notice.
Back in his officetel alone, Yeonwoo watched TV with half-lidded, bleary eyes.
“Phew. But this blowing up so huge is starting to worry me...”
Director Heo, who’d been thrilled, suddenly sighed.
“What’d I tell you? I said not to get blindly happy.”
“Better than starting with a negative image. Though it’s bigger than I expected.”
Viewer reactions, media buzz—all overwhelmingly positive, scorching hot.
“What do we do with all this hype? Huh? Good reactions are great, but we fanned the flames too hard.”
“Well... yeah...”
Director Heo’s shoulders slumped.
“And what about Yeonwoo-ssi? His acting’s no issue, but... Dumping all that charisma upfront—how am I supposed to handle the character arc?”
“Sorry, Min Writer.”
“Save the apologies for our actors. They’re the ones taking the biggest risk.”
She had a point.
The staff, hearing Min Writer, started murmuring about the realities.
“If this hype carries to the main broadcast and it flops...”
“Ugh. Felt good at first, but now it’s a bit heavy.”
“Rip open a hyped package and it underwhelms? We’ll get flamed hard...”
They’d vented their past frustrations with this win, but it wasn’t over.
“Long road ahead...”
“Gotta crank up the shooting intensity. Make the visuals total art...”
The production schedule was already tight.
Unlike rushed scripts, it was pre-produced—but “DimaGo” was more like half-pre-produced.
Full pre-production was tough under real constraints.
Especially in dramaland, where viewer feedback ruled—even pre-pro dramas slowed the back half.
With trends leaning into public opinion, it was unavoidable.
‘Plus, we’ve got Lee Deokchun’s mess to clean up.’