Chapter 49: The Mosaic-Marked Teaser Video
A teaser video speckled with mosaics. Amid flashy CG adorning the screen, a reporter's voiceover continues over footage slowed to a crawl.
- Wielding knives, spewing raw curses, even scrambling on all fours over bodies bleeding and writhing in agony—the provocative scenes unfold.
- At the end of this video that recently set the internet ablaze comes the title of an upcoming weekend drama.
- Yes, it's not reality—it's a leaked teaser from a drama.
- It looks like a noir genre drama, casually featuring violence for ratings, staging shocking scenes. It's the kind always criticized for walking a tightrope between raising crime awareness and the risk of imitation.
- You can see it here with this man.
A voice laced with menace, eyes brimming with madness, hands trembling from addiction symptoms. It looks like they scouted a real gambling addict.
But then the screen shifts with upbeat EDM beats. Tick-tock—tick-tock— Cars explode, helicopters burst into flames, quick cuts in rapid rhythm, with the reporter's commentary slipping in between.
- You should be frowning at this, but as the video progresses, it adds weight to the gambler's intensity.
The industry habit of consuming provocative topics like gambling and violence as something 'cool' means, for ratings, they shove aside any sense of caution to viewers... The content fades out toward the end.
The production team and cast of Italian Romance watch the news with mouths agape.
- This was KBC reporter Park Young-joo.
After the news clip ends.
A moment later.
Even as the sweetly appealing Italian Romance teaser flashed across their eyes.
"············"
"············"
"············"
"············"
"············"
No one opened their mouth.
Whoever seized the most crucial element to milk from TV before the drama's premiere was now clear.
"············Pro."
MBS's ten-year veteran main PD muttered.
Seasoned to the bone, he knew who benefited from that news clip.
Monster City—it was a ploy just like actors who shun publicity before a film's release but burn their image on variety shows anyway.
[Imprint Effect]
Drama or film, same deal. If it could boost ratings or ticket sales by even 1%, they'd pull off stunts that make you go, Really? That's the industry.
A 0.1% ratings dip sparks shouting matches in the broadcast control room; a 1% jump means beef dinners. That's the game.
In that sense, the news imprinting the existence of a rival drama on potential viewers was starting to rattle the Italian Romance team.
The next morning.
Shouts erupted in the SBC Drama Department director's office.
"You—!"
Ji PD dodged the tissue box hurled by Director Nam with a quick tilt of his head.
"Are you insane?"
"I didn't leak it on purpose—it got out—"
"Don't give me that crap! You think you can pull this stunt under my watch, with all my years in? You think I don't know how this world rolls?"
"··········Sorry."
"··········Hah."
Director Nam slumped into the chair behind her desk with the nameplate.
Thud.
She buried her face in her hands after glancing at the monitor and muttered.
"This is driving me nuts, for real."
"Director."
"What the hell did you do... It's chaos everywhere. How many agencies are demanding appearances, how do we handle the fallout···"
"Director?"
"··········"
"Lower your hands a bit."
Slowly, her hands came down, revealing the director's lips curled into a smirk.
"Heh heh heh."
"Heh heh heh."
A laugh only pros understood bloomed between their facing faces.
"Check the monitor too."
Smiling, Director Nam twitched her cheek and spun the desk monitor around obligingly.
Swish.
The screen showed the real-time search rankings from Korea's top portal site by traffic.
One of the key metrics industry folks check.
Even on official premiere day, landing one keyword in the top 5 is solid.
But here...
Already 4th for the drama title, 5th for its scene-stealer actor.
"Heh heh heh heh."
"Heh heh heh heh."
Ji PD and Director Nam laughed again, facing each other.
They knew exactly what it meant.
"Ji PD, I have so much to say right now? But just one question."
"Yes."
"Official teaser drops today, right?"
"Yes."
"Good, then."
The world already buzzing from last night's 9 PM news...
"·········Let's stir the pot first."
SBC dropped the official Monster City teaser.
The power of the 9 PM news was considerable.
First, follow-up articles sucking up views online poured in, as expected.
Facts 3, opinions 7—tons of comments piled under those articles, naturally.
A few who learned of Lee Tae-gyu from the 9 PM news had chimed in.
Of course.
Drama communities were already in an uproar.
Bigger reaction than the initial leak.
Click any post, same vibe in the comments.
Public opinion forming: 'SBC's Monster City, overreaching to beat MBS's Italian Romance, got blacklisted on terrestrial TV.'
But.
That was just online community chatter; reality differed.
By the time 'Monster City' and 'Lee Tae-gyu' dominated news feeds, the official Monster City teaser aired on TV.
Not just active SNS or community users—'Monster City' started bubbling up in conversations everywhere.
Though they'd tweaked the content overall.
- I told you... I'd win it, right?
The official teaser ending on Tae-gyu.
Reactions varied.
"Tch, where'd they drag that crazy gambler from."
"Elder, that's an actor."
"You can tell at a glance! That's a pro, a shark! Back when my bro lost at ssatda and crawled in at night for the house deed, same damn eyes—"
Even in the neighborhood soup joint.
"Oppa, I've been curious about that lately."
"What?"
"Y'know, that drama with the gambling addict—"
In bars too.
"Park, when's that drama air?"
"Which one?"
"You know, the one with the gambler—"
"Oh. Monster City?"
Even in offices during overtime.
The drama now dubbed "that gambling addict one"—alongside it, Lee Tae-gyu's face was imprinting deeper on people.
Gambler Lee Tae-gyu.
With Monster City and Italian Romance clash imminent, the rookie at the hype's center.
Of course.
Entertainment reporters weren't ignoring him either.
"··········But isn't it kinda funny?"
A slight question lingered.
Lee Tae-gyu, whose name and face spread this far from one leaked unfinished teaser.
Especially since no one had seen his real face, let alone proper acting.
"Nobody really knows what he does."
"Hollywood guy, I heard."
"I heard he's backed by a chaebol chairman. No other way to blow up this fast."
"Nah. Real gambler origin."
"Didn't see the teaser? Acting genius. End of story."
"You can edit a 1-min clip to make my broom look that good."
"Didn't see Cheon Yoo-seong's SNS? Rumor he's his half-bro."
"Shut up. Do Yoon-seop'll sue you."
"True, come to think—DK's secret weapon? Do Yoon-seop's grooming him to conquer the industry."
"Nah, I think—"
Wild guesses flew among them.
Too many rumors swirling.
Hotly swapping Lee Tae-gyu ghost stories they'd heard...
"··················Enough!"
Someone cut in.
"This won't end. Let's talk after tomorrow."
"Press conference?"
"Yeah. See for ourselves."
"We going?"
"Duh. Flip the country upside down and sit it out?"
The press event: reporters' last official chance to see actors pre-airing, post-script reading.
Lee Tae-gyu—the rumored rookie's interview at last.
"··········Lucky break for a fluke newbie, or a real monster actor."
The reporters nodded.
Dim church interior.
A few shafts of light piercing through broken windows cut the thick darkness.
White dust swirling—unlike the lively first shoot vibe, now a deathly heavy silence after the final take.
"··········Tomorrow, the press conference."
Receiving solemn farewells from a few gathered.
"··········I see."
The cult leader nodded, setting off to spread the next acting gospel.