One hour before the 3rd episode broadcast of "The Chaebol Heir is a Pure-hearted Macho."
The Tempest family gathered cozily in front of a large screen, watching the commercials.
I took a moment to connect to the internet on my smartphone.
"'Shoot the Sun' Production Team to Take Stern Action Against 'Spoilers'. Meanwhile, a spoiler claiming to be an insider predicted the appearance of adult actors in the final scene of episode 1, and..."
A spoiler that had spread in a certain community just before the broadcast.
If that content was true, it meant the adult actors would appear today.
"Are they in their right minds...?"
In the end, they had taken the drastic measure of cutting out the early-part build-up.
They had edited it so that the lead actors, who were supposed to appear at the end of episode 2, would now appear in episode 1.
It was clear proof that they were also conscious of our "Pure-hearted Macho."
To think they would pay so much attention to a drama that had, at best, started with 5% on cable.
"My, they have no business ethics over there."
Isn't this literally a fight between David and Goliath?
Our side is a god-tier cost-effective production where even if you combine the three leads, it doesn't exceed 40 million won per episode.
Their side is a blockbuster ultra-luxury legion with three or four top stars.
In various communities, a heated debate continued among the fans.
-Pure-hearted Macho fans, hit like ㄱㄱ -Not watching a common, boring rom-com ㅋㅋ -Honestly, the difference is too big, whether it's the actors or the writer ㅠ -But it's super fun though? lololol -So excited for Shoot the Sunㅐㅐㅐㅐ -Pure-hearted Macho's empty house robbery last week was insane, wasn't it? lololol
The internet was overflowing with prophets predicting the result of the MBS and JTBS showdown.
A moment later,
Im Jaejun spotted me and slowly approached.
"When did you arrive, Writer-nim?"
"I just..."
"Wr-writer-nim, why the formal language...?"
"Ah, I didn't even realize."
These days, Im Jaejun's name recognition was on a level where heaven and earth had been flipped.
Since the Tempest side had extremely limited his image consumption, his value had skyrocketed.
He had filmed just one commercial, a cosmetics CF, and I heard that sales had jumped sevenfold in a single day.
It's rare to see a rookie actor blow up like this.
"Can you feel your popularity these days?"
"Pardon? Ah, ah..."
Im Jaejun, with an embarrassed expression.
It feels like just yesterday that he was working part-time at a meat restaurant.
"Writer-nim, thank you so much."
"What's there to be thankful for? I'm just grateful if you work hard."
"No! I'm really grateful. If you start a company, I'll go there unconditionally as soon as my contract period is over."
"What? This is Tempest."
"Oops."
Thankfully, there were no employees around, so no one heard.
'When Jaejun's contract is up, asking for a stake like with Kang Jun is...'
Right now, it felt like too big of a bite to chew.
"Let's talk when your contract is over."
"Ah, yes."
"I'll be working only with Tempest for a while too."
"Yes, sir. I understand."
Tempest's growth is my growth.
Is there any industry as small as the entertainment world?
This town truly had no secrets.
To the extent that a brief conversation at a broadcasting station would reach someone's ears.
"Kim Jinwoo, that bastard... did he reject me because of Song Gwonsu?"
Cha Choongheon's body trembled with rage.
A tip that the two of them had met at KBC just one day before his own meeting.
Information that had spread quickly because of some girl group member, Miryung of Purple Girls or whatever.
Of course, the two of them could have just met by chance.
"Song Gwonsu, you again? Why is it you again!"
Didn't he have a terrible history with Director Song, who had stormed out of SBC?
The times he had spent wallowing in an inferiority complex after tasting a huge sense of defeat from his far-junior's massive hit.
Even when his colleagues at the company were bullying him, he had deliberately ignored it.
But he had comfortably quit and turned his back on SBC.
After that, Cha Choongheon had also produced hit works and risen to the same level... no, even higher, but his thirst was not quenched at all.
Because he had never been able to create a work that surpassed Director Song.
Whether in ratings or directing ability, he still felt a sense of rivalry with Director Song.
"Come to think of it, today's the day 'Pure-hearted Macho' gets crushed, isn't it?"
Checking the clock now, the broadcast would have started a little while ago.
It has to plummet endlessly so that no broadcasting station will take it.
Otherwise, it feels like I won't be able to control this anger.
Soon, he took out his smartphone to check the ratings.
"Wh-what is this?"
Before meeting Kim Jinwoo, his score was exactly 5%.
However,
"Why... is it 8 percent?"
It should have naturally dropped when going up against a strong team, so why did it rise?And to rise this much... is this even possible, logically?
"A lie...!"
If Kim Jinwoo, who had rejected him, and Song Gwonsu were to do a project together.
And if those two were to produce another hit work.
At that time, would he have the courage to endure that sense of deprivation?
Suddenly, he thought of a star writer who had a bad history with Kim Jinwoo.
Writer Lee Minjoo, who had recently been maintaining a 10% rating.
Since she was a writer with ties to SBC, her number was naturally saved.
Ring, ring, ring, ring—
-Hello.
"Did you see the 'Pure-hearted Macho' ratings?"
-Are you... picking a fight with me right now?
"No, the opposite. I heard you just finished your manuscript; let's do a drama together."
-Why should I? I'm going to rest for a while...
"We'll be going up against Kim Jinwoo. In the same time slot."
-...Tell me in detail.
At the end of Director Cha's gaze was the viewership graph of "Pure-hearted Macho."
A red upward curve that never went down and rose endlessly.
"It's a relief it didn't drop from 5 percent."
"Wr-writer-nim. It's not about 5 percent right now."
Today's viewership definitely started at 5 percent.
The Tempest employees all held their breath, looking my way.
Im Jaejun, Ji Seongho, and I were all gathered in one place.
However, the ratings recovered in just 30 minutes.
It took exactly 30 minutes to quickly surpass the 5% range and rise to 8%.
It was a result made possible because there was no viewer drop-off today either.
After spreading through word-of-mouth on the internet and having clips circulate on social media for the past week.
"I didn't expect it to turn out like this."
"Wow... how much did it rise?"
Ji Seongho said with trembling lips.
"If this had failed, I would have been ruined too. My mom bought an apartment behind my back."
"What are you talking about? You bet on 0.53 percent last time."
"...Don't you think you might have misread it as 5.3 percent?"
At that moment, Im Jaejun, who was listening from the side, added a word.
"But what percentage is 'Shoot the Sun' at right now?"
"Ah..."
Right. I need to check the competitor's report card too.
I was about to take out my smartphone and go to the site.
But an employee who was listening from the side quickly handed me a phone.
Immediately, I meticulously checked their ratings.
"...It's 13 percent."
"Oh, if it's that much, isn't it a complete failure from their perspective?"
Hearing Seongho's question, I corrected myself.
"It started at 20 percent. Now it's 13 percent."
"..."
Even as the drama was progressing, the ratings graph was fluctuating.
"Awesome! 'Pure-hearted Macho' hit... 10 percent!!!"
"Wow..."
In the end, "Pure-hearted Macho" broke through the devil's wall of ten percent and finished spectacularly at 11%.
On the other hand, the rating for 'Shoot the Sun' dropped once again and stopped at 12%.
"11 to 12... it was close."
It was a regrettable loss, but the match was decided by a mere 1 percent difference.
A shocking result that broke everyone's expectation of an overwhelming defeat.
"No, how on earth did 'Shoot the Sun' fail so badly?"
There's always a clear reason for a drama to fail.
Suddenly, the content of the article I saw earlier came to mind, and I went to the community.
-Going to watch Pure-hearted Macho, gg -Not interested in the world-building ㅡㅡ -A 1-hour prologue -This is what happens when you cram two parts into one ㅉ
The viewers' reactions were all the same.
The mainstream opinion was that it was too busy explaining the background for the purpose of providing information.
"It's not that they gathered only the interesting parts and put them in one episode..."
They crammed in all the necessary information for later. It was a case of being hit by a headwind while trying to reduce the build-up.
"I predicted it! Of course it would fail when they compressed two episodes of child actor scenes into episode 1."
"I know, right. Thanks to that, we won."
A viewer who has turned their back once does not return.
Because almost no one watches episode 2 without watching episode 1.
Ding-dong—
At that moment, the system activated out of the blue.
[You have won the 'Two Consecutive Parts' writing probability.]
I turned my gaze, and I could see Kim Hyunji approaching from a distance.
"Two consecutive parts...?"
[Content: The Regressor Who Erases Memories, Parts 3-4] [Genre: Time Loop, Romance, Crime Thriller] [Location: Room 506, Tempest Entertainment Building] [Time Limit: 3 days] [※ Silver Promotion: 110-110101-1011(Virtual Account, W Bank)] [※ Deposit Amount: 0 won / 100,000,000 won]
"Hmm... so a day like this comes."
The time is ample, making it a perfect environment for research.
Room 506 of Tempest Entertainment is my studio.
"Congratulations, sunbaenims."
Kim Hyunji approached and offered her greetings.
I want to tell her to be the protagonist right now.
But isn't there an order to everything?
'Manager Jung said to talk after I've written all four parts.'
I'll have to stay up for a few nights to write it perfectly and fix the protagonist.
It was then.
"Writer-nim!"
A woman who called me from a distance and came running over.
"Oh, Semi-ssi? What brings you here?"
"Ugh... I was going to watch the drama with you, but it's over."
"We hit it big. Haha."
"Yes. I know. It's all thanks to you, Writer-nim!"
At her refreshing smile, all the Tempest employees stared at Semi.
They had seen countless pretty and handsome celebrities.
But seeing the charming female lead of the drama they had just watched in real life was a different story.
"Semi-ssi, is it okay for you to be here at this late hour?"
"Ah, my manager oppa said he'd pick me up in a bit."
"I see. I'm about to go and write the script now."
"Okay, hehe."
"Huh...?"
My own space... no, a space for three, including the Kang family.
The sight of my office engulfed in a halo of light was a different kind of feeling.
"Wow! So this is your office, Writer-nim."
Semi wandered around the cramped office innocently.
'She looks too... comfortable.'
In a short period of time, Semi had become a top star by name and in reality.
To the extent that even the smallest piece of gossip could become a fatal poison.
'Hmm...'
Semi was a person as kind, bright, and cheerful as anyone in the world.
So I wanted to see her for a long time.
But now, isn't it a time when an appropriate distance is needed for each other's better futures?
"Do you work here every day?"
"No. I usually write where I feel drawn to on any given day, but today I'm planning to write here."
"Ah..."
Semi sat in the chair with a pleasant smile.
"Are you going to continue to be contracted with Tempest in the future, Writer-nim?"
"Yes. The treatment is good, and there's no reason to leave."
"Hmm, then when my contract is over..."
"Semi-ssi."
"Yes?"
Of course, it was my misunderstanding, and an absurd one at that.
"You can continue to be a good actress in the future, right?"
"What? Well, of course... Ah."
"..."
"Yeees..."
Semi seemed lost in thought for a moment and then cautiously opened her mouth.
"Um, Writer-nim."
"Yes, Semi-ssi."
"...Please continue to take good care of me in the future."
"I'm the one who should be asking that of you."
At that moment, her manager's voice was heard from outside.
"Semi-ya—!"
Soon after, Semi said in a disappointed voice.
"Um... I think I have to go."
"Yes, I'll see you on set soon."
"Thank you!"
Semi bowed her head in greeting and left through the door.
Thud—
The door closed, and I leaned back in my chair.
"Phew..."
No matter how I look at it, it seems I made an absurd misunderstanding.
When I think about today, I think I'll be doing a blanket kick for the next 30 years.
I opened my laptop to write the script, but my hands didn't move easily.
The 4th part of the promise I had made with Manager Jung Saerom.
She had definitely said she would decide on Kim Hyunji's appearance after seeing up to this point.
The meeting with Director Song would also be set up in a few days, so I have to write quickly.
"Let's just rest today and write the script from tomorrow."
Outside the door, the Tempest family was raising a toast to the success of "Pure-hearted Macho."
But just... my head hurt tonight, so I wanted to rest a little.