A few days later, the first day when Night of Fire Episode 2 and The Perfect Man Episode 1 overlapped.
Right before Night of Fire Episode 2 and The Perfect Man Episode 1 aired simultaneously.
An unprecedented remote control war broke out in a general hospital room.
The ajummas gathered in front of the TV, bickering.
“What cable nonsense! Lee Jeonggil’s first episode is today!”
“Ah, we need to keep watching yesterday’s show. Lee Jeonggil’s show has reruns!”
“Right, yesterday’s <Night of Fire> was good. Let’s watch that first.”
“So then we switch to Lee Jeonggil’s if it gets boring?”
“Ugh, fine, fine.”
Once the room finally quieted down, everyone began watching Park Inha struggling inside the flames.
“Why would she be a firefighter when it hurts that much?”
“Her whole family died in a fire when she was young.”
“Oh my.”
“Isn’t that Choi Sunha? Choi Sunha’s in this?”
“Ugh, I can’t watch—it’s too nerve-wracking.”
The scene flowed showing team members at the fire scene reaching out for each other without hesitation, sacrificing themselves.
Then sniffling sounds started coming from various spots around the room.
“Damn it, why are we watching sad stuff!”
“It’s good though.”
“Why isn’t she even crying? It makes her look even more pitiful.”
* * *
Meanwhile, at a small home-cooking restaurant in another neighborhood.
The TV showed Lee Jeonggil climbing onto a truck and having a gunfight with enemies.
The owners chewed on corn while marveling.
“What a world we live in. They even film stuff like this for dramas.”
“Wow, so flashy. They must’ve spent a fortune on this.”
“Lee Jeonggil looks good.”
“Isn’t this competing with some other drama? The one with Han Sena in it.”
“Really? Where’s that one airing?”
The husband picked up the remote and switched to another major network channel.
“It’s not on?”
“Huh, it’s not time yet? Where is it?”
“Did you hear wrong?”
The owners looked puzzled and switched back to the HBC channel.
* * *
At the same time, at a small bar near the filming location.
The bar was packed to the brim with actors and staff.
Every time a fire scene appeared, everyone tensely focused on the screen.
I was also staring at the TV screen intently.
One of the staff members stopped watching and clapped.
“Wow, that turned out great. It really looks like your body’s on fire.”
“You know how hot that was?”
“What are you talking about? I almost died doing the CG work!”
Hearing that made people laugh.
That’s when my carefully crafted hand gesture acting scene for Park Inha came on.
On screen, I desperately reached out with my bare hands in multiple directions.
“Wow, wasn’t that not in the script?”
“She did that so well. She really looks like Park Inha.”
“Every time I see Sena-ssi’s face, I feel like crying. Because she looks just like Park Inha.”
The compliments around me made my shoulders relax involuntarily.
“Thank you.”
When I smiled bashfully, Hyunsu-ssi smiled along slightly.
“You’re always so embarrassed. You should be used to it by now.”
As soon as Episode 2 finished airing, everyone raised their glasses.
I also raised my glass with joy.
“Cheers!”
“Our Episode 1 yesterday did pretty well! 6.4 percent!”
“That’s seriously a miracle!”
For cable, 6.4 percent might seem a bit low, but converted to terrestrial ratings, that was effectively about 8.5 percent.
The result was 1.5 times higher than everyone’s expectations.
As glasses clinked, tears welled up in several staff members’ eyes.
This drama had every single team fighting fiercely together.
Makeup, art, sound, special effects, directing, production, and more.
Staff members comforted their teammates sitting beside them while wiping away tears.
Seeing that somehow made my nose sting too.
“Why’s everyone like this? We’re just getting started!”
The spirited team members forcibly lifted the teary atmosphere.
“Save the crying for the final episode! No tears until then!”
“Let’s finish filming well too!”
The director also nodded as if agreeing and downed his soju-beer mix.
“We still don’t have today’s ratings yet, so let’s wait and see.”
“Right. With The Perfect Man airing at the same time today, who knows what’ll happen.”
“I hope it doesn’t drop too much! Please!”
“Everyone pray to whatever god you believe in.”
* * *
And the next day, a miracle happened.
Episode 2’s ratings rose to 7.1 percent.
Converting the ratings came to about 9.44 percent.
Yesterday’s The Perfect Man ratings were 11.2 percent.
Considering the weight class difference, we were still behind, of course, but it was fair to say we’d stolen viewers from HBC.
[The Perfect Man Barely Holds Its Position! How Long Can It Last?]
[HBC vs QYN—An Unexpectedly Close Battle Defying All Predictions!]
[Han Sena’s Unstoppable Ratings March! Will Even Lee Jeonggil Fall?]
[QYN’s Unique Promotion Makes Daily Headlines… Their Marketing Strategy Contributing to Ratings!]
The moment the ratings that defied everyone’s predictions hit the articles, food trucks began lining up at the filming location from early morning.
Staff members looked at the trucks with bewildered faces.
“What’s with all the food trucks?”
“Main dishes, dessert, coffee? What is this, a full course meal?”
Then they rushed over to line up in front of the food trucks.
Watching that scene made me smile contentedly.
A few days ago, I’d asked Minyeong unnie and paid for this out of my own pocket.
Choi Sunha approached while shaving his chin with an electric razor.
“Wow, you’re not even giving people a chance to contribute with a coffee truck.”
I smiled at Choi Sunha.
“Sunbaenim can treat us next time. I wanted to treat the hardworking staff to a meal.”
That’s when Choi Sunha’s manager approached from the distance.
The manager handed Choi Sunha a box and left.
“What’s that?”
“I knew this would happen. I prepared something too.”
I looked inside the box to find expensive-looking champagne bottles packed inside.
Choi Sunha pulled out a non-alcoholic champagne and immediately popped it open.
“Eek!”
The staff jumped in surprise, looked this way, and cheered.
“Everyone come get a glass.”
Choi Sunha smiled leisurely while shaking the champagne bottle.
“Wow, today feels like a festival.”
“The tacos will taste amazing with this! I call first dibs on the champagne!”
The filming location filled with an energetic atmosphere.
* * *
‘Park Inha! Where are you!? Park Inha!!’
One week later.
After leisurely monitoring Episode 3 at home for the first time in a while, I paused while about to change the channel.
Instead of ending, the earlier set location appeared again on screen.
Then I, Choi Sunha, and Hyunsu-ssi appeared and engaged in a brief skit-like conversation.
‘Sunbaenims, are you okay?’
Outside the set, I handed drinks to Choi Sunha and Hyunsu-ssi with an apologetic expression.
Choi Sunha took the drink bluntly, while Hyunsu-ssi took it kindly and drank it right there.
‘Inha, you drink too. Your throat must hurt, right?’
‘Yeah, thanks.’
‘Ah, refreshing. I feel alive now.’
The drink’s label appeared at the bottom right of the TV screen.
This was my first time doing PPL advertising in this format.
Since the drama content was so serious, we’d decided to handle the PPL that couldn’t be woven into the script in a different way.
This free format was a charm only cable could enjoy.
After drinking, I followed Hyunsu-ssi and glanced at the camera.
‘Everyone, did you enjoy <Night of Fire>? It’d be a shame to let this heat just end here, right?’
Then I said in a whisper,
‘If you want to see another ‘fire movie,’ keep it locked on this channel!’
As the line ended, the movie broadcast QYN was airing began.
When we’d first filmed it, I’d worried about breaking viewers’ immersion.
But watching it like this, it was actually entertaining and seemed to provide ventilation from the serious atmosphere.
From now on, the actors would take turns handling brief PPL segments each broadcast.
Even the actors didn’t know what lines each other had used.
I wonder what Choi Sunha did.
Did he do it seriously or funny?
I’m kind of curious.
I smiled and changed the channel.
* * *
The next day, in front of the HBC office.
Lee Gilhong, the director in charge of the <Perfect Man> production, let out a deep sigh in front of the door.
‘I’m going to sue So Jaehyeong. If you don’t want to get ripped apart by the media, don’t try to stop me.’
‘Is this how you treat someone just because they did supporting roles for over a decade??’
Lee Gilhong ruffled his thinning hair with one hand.
His other hand held a written apology.
This was driving him crazy.
News came that one of the supporting actors had fled the set right at the point when the show was already airing.
On top of that, rather than reaching the target ratings, they were hovering at around half the goal with no upward momentum.
First thing this morning after arriving at work, he’d been summoned to the vice president’s office.
Lee Gilhong squeezed his eyes shut and opened the door.
Inside, the vice president sat with an even more rigid expression than Lee Gilhong.
Lee Gilhong quickly went to sit in front of the vice president.
The vice president immediately spoke.
“You know we poured the most money into this in recent years, right?”
“Yes…”
“We’ve been using Director So Jaehyeong because at least he delivered ratings. But now that’s not working either, is it?”
“Yes…”
Lee Gilhong’s voice grew smaller and smaller.
“At this rate, we’re looking at losses in the tens of billions. Does that make sense?”
“……”
The vice president spoke curtly, as if he didn’t even have the energy to be angry.
“Anyway, make So Jaehyeong submit a written apology too. And if one more incident happens, we’re replacing the director immediately.”
Hearing that, Lee Gilhong clenched his fist, thinking, so it’s finally come to this.
He’d known that replacing a director mid-broadcast was a card used only as the absolute last resort.
Even in his long broadcasting career, it was something he’d barely heard of a few times.
“If ratings don’t reach 20 percent by the finale, we’re moving you to a different position too, Director Lee. No objections, right?”
“……”
“Sure, this is a broadcast station where we can’t just fire people. I know you can feel at ease about that.”
The vice president mentioned the internal HBC culture he hated most.
“……”
“But even so, this isn’t acceptable, is it?”
“I’m sorry.”
“You know I’ve been holding back since you let Han Sena slip away, right?”
“Yes. I’ll take responsibility until the very end somehow.”
“You can leave.”
Lee Gilhong, who’d been battered by a bone-chilling wind, stood up from his seat.
Click—
After closing the door and coming out, Lee Gilhong let out a deep sigh.
’20 percent. What am I supposed to do to achieve that?’
If only he could sell his soul to the devil to pull in ratings.
Lee Gilhong pulled out his phone from his back pocket and entered the QYN promotional channel on iTube.
I also have the full novel on my Patreon account by the way! If you want to fully support me while binge read all the chapters of this novel, you can buy them on my Patreon! P.S. They're all in PDF and Markdown format.
Thank youuuu~!
Hello! If you any questions and if you found any errors on my translations, please do @ me on our discord server (@_dawn24) since I might miss your comment here. FYI, you can periodically check my Patreon page where I usually uploaded the completed version of the novels that I translated (including regular and advanced chapters), they come with a discounted price too!
Comments (0)