A Genius Director Who Dominates OTT Platforms - Chapter 30

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Genius Director Who Dominates OTT

Episode 30

* * *

-Did you see the Accomplice trailer?

-Yeah, I’ve been seeing it a lot lately.

-Looks like they spent some money on it?

-No, the trailer was interesting, but who the hell is the main character? Am I the only one who doesn’t know?

-I heard it’s a failed idol?

-They dissed Kim Ra-un and used a failed idol? Did they get paid for this???

-Isn’t he a theater troupe actor? I heard he’s a Cinderella story cast from a theater troupe.

-I don’t know about theater troupe, but he’s definitely a used rookie. I’ve seen him occasionally in small supporting roles in movies and dramas.

-So he’s not a famous actor?

-Yeah, we’re guessing he’s skilled though

-Whoever he is, if they chose him over Kim Ra-un, his acting must be guaranteed, right?

-Public opinion is split these days? At first people said Dohyeon-u’s interview was bullshit.

-You all got manipulated so well lol You really believe they dissed a top star just because of one acting performance?

-There’s a rumor that Dohyeon-u and Kim Ra-un dated and broke up. A lovers’ quarrel.

-???

-?????

-I’m in favor

-What the hell are you in favor of;

Accomplice’s trailer succeeded in drawing interest without putting the actor front and center.

This was possible because the controversy involving Youngpal was so hot.

Thanks to this, Eum Seong-hyeon’s casting controversy never surfaced.

SSK, having solidified their direction with mystery marketing, firmly controlled information about the actor.

Naturally, they also scrapped the production announcement.

-Is it real that they’re not having a production announcement?

-They’re bundled up pretty damn tight

-At this point, isn’t this an actor who committed a crime making a comeback?

-That’s possible lol

-Only a week left now, fuck. I don’t know about the drama but I’m gonna see who the actors are, fuck

-What time do Tving Originals usually open?

-Korean Tving is 10 PM

-It’s exactly the same as that Wednesday-Thursday drama Young Per Al lol

-Are these crazy bastards really matching even the opening date and time?

-To be serious, Youngpal premieres on Wednesday, and Accomplice opens with 2 episodes simultaneously on Thursday.

-Either way, they’re both getting evaluated on Thursday night with 2 episodes.

-Are they planning to completely destroy one side?

-I thought it was WWE but it’s UFC;

Thanks to this, public curiosity was maintained until the opening day.

And so…

Wednesday, June 7th.

【0% Algorithm】 Episode 1 aired.

Thursday, June 8th.

The morning of Accomplice’s opening day dawned.

* * *

Eum Seong-hyeon, who had stayed up all night with his eyes open, turned on his smartphone.

6 AM.

He had lain in bed at 10 PM, so he seemed to have been spacing out for almost 8 hours.

‘Youngpal must have aired, right?’

Eum Seong-hyeon was startled as he unconsciously tried to enter a portal site.

By now, all the portal sites would be filled with nothing but stories about Youngpal.

He couldn’t even guess what kind of reaction it would be, but he didn’t have confidence to maintain his mental state after seeing it.

‘Let’s not look.’

Eum Seong-hyeon closed his eyes and recalled the filming set of Accomplice.

It had definitely been filled with good feelings.

If that was captured in the final product, the quality wouldn’t be lacking.

The actors deliberately didn’t watch the preview edit, but CE Dohyeon-u and Director Jeong Hee-su had said they were satisfied with it.

But the anxiety didn’t disappear.

He had to act well.

And tremendously well at that.

Because he was the person who came in to replace Kim Ra-un.

It was a fact he didn’t know until filming ended, but CE Dohyeon-u had called him aside to tell him about it.

“If what we’re planning doesn’t work out well, people might curse at you, Seong-hyeon.”

“But one thing is certain.”

“I’ve never once regretted choosing you, Seong-hyeon.”

Although he was shocked to learn that he had replaced Kim Ra-un, surprisingly, Eum Seong-hyeon wasn’t afraid of public criticism.

I’m being compared to Kim Ra-un?

Of course I should get cursed at.

What’s there to feel wronged about?

This was what he thought.

As long as CE Dohyeon-u wasn’t disappointed, everything was fine.

But reality flowed completely differently from expectations.

In an incomprehensible situation, CE Dohyeon-u began getting cursed at.

Although public opinion was somehow managed and leaned toward watching the work first…

‘What if CE Do gets criticized because I do poorly?’

That created even greater anxiety.

That’s why he couldn’t bring himself to look at reactions related to Youngpal.

Eventually, Eum Seong-hyeon opened the Accomplice group chat to calm his mind.

-So Jeong-hun: Why can’t I sleep…

-So Jeong-hun: We open at 10 PM tonight, right? Not 10 AM? I can sleep, right?

-Lee Seon-jae: What kind of morning drama opens in the morning?

-So Jeong-hun: Seon-jae. I think you’ve been picking on me a lot lately?

-Lee Seon-jae: Oh, what are you saying. It’s not a misunderstanding, hyung.

-So Jeong-hun: …?

As always, jokes were exchanged, but even scrolling up quickly, he couldn’t find any talk related to Youngpal.

Everyone was feeling the pressure.

Eventually, Eum Seong-hyeon pulled his cap down low and came out to start running.

The neighborhood flashed by.

At one time, he had hated this neighborhood to death.

He wanted to make M2M, who had neglected him, regret it, and get revenge on the group members who had tormented him.

But now such things didn’t matter at all.

What Eum Seong-hyeon was interested in was the success of Jeong-hun, who had gotten an opportunity just before quitting acting.

It was the peace of Seong-won’s mother, who prayed every morning with water offerings, and the hospital bills for Seon-jae, whose father was sick.

And above all…

It was repaying CE Dohyeon-u, who had believed in him.

He couldn’t ruin that.

Eum Seong-hyeon, who had been running away from countless thoughts, stopped running when his breath reached his chin.

Then he unconsciously looked at the group chat.

“Huh?”

He made a foolish sound and opened his eyes wide.

* * *

“Ah, Father. I told you not to worry.”

Lee Seon-jae patted his chest while looking at his father who had been awake since dawn.

“Aren’t I the proud eldest son of the Jeonju Lee Clan?! Our drama will definitely be successful!”

“Hey, you brat. You can’t just make bold claims about everything.”

“Hehe. Then should I be trembling with worry about what if the drama doesn’t do well? You know that’s not my personality.”

“That’s true. You take after me with that big heart of yours.”

“Then why is someone like that having heart problems?”

“You little…?”

“Come on, go inside and sleep.”

“Alright, man. The nagging is…”

The moment his father went into his room, Lee Seon-jae suddenly froze in the darkened living room.

He had definitely tried to take a step, but something seemed to grab his legs and he couldn’t move.

I really need to succeed.

I need to prepare money for Father’s surgery, pay back the loans, and cover living expenses.

The Accomplice appearance fee put out the urgent fire, but it’s still far from enough.

I don’t even dream of variety shows or commercials, but I need to at least quickly receive the guarantee for the next project…

His suddenly stiffened legs wouldn’t move.

“Ah damn, why am I like this.”

Eventually, Lee Seon-jae collapsed weakly onto the old sofa and opened his smartphone.

-Seon-jae: What kind of morning drama is this? Opening in the morning?

-So Jeong-hun: Seon-jae. I think you’ve been developing a tendency to tease me lately?

-Seon-jae: Ah, what are you saying. It’s not a misunderstanding, hyung.

Teasing Jeong-hun seemed to ease his mind a little.

Just a little bit.

“Haah…”

If I knew it would be like this, I should have gone to the temp agency.

I was trying to take a day off because it was the work’s release day.

‘Would it be too late if I go now? Should I just do deliveries until 10 PM.’

It was when Lee Seon-jae was having such thoughts.

A message from the only non-actor, no, former actor Dohyeon-u CE in the Accomplice group chat appeared.

-Dohyeon-u CE: Breaking news! Youngpal Episode 1 viewership rating 12.1%!

-Dohyeon-u CE: How about an emergency committee meeting with day drinking, no, morning drinking?

Lee Seon-jae, who had been looking at the message with a devastated expression, let out a shriek.

“No, how could you say that!”

* * *

Contrary to expectations, actors rarely gather together to watch a drama.

Many people feel uncomfortable watching their own acting with others, and it’s also difficult for all actors to coordinate their schedules just to watch one episode of drama.

So if there’s a group viewing, there’s a 99% chance it’s an event.

The most common event would be a company dinner scheduled to coincide with the wrap party and final episode?

Even then, they’d just take a few group viewing shots for SNS upload and mute the drama anyway.

In other words, actors gathering together to watch a drama without any particular reason was a very, very rare occurrence.

But something even rarer than that would be…

All the actors gathering at 9 AM to wait for a 10 PM drama, wouldn’t it?

No, isn’t this not just rare?

Is this just unprecedented?

Did I write another page in Tivic’s history?

While I was having such useless thoughts, actor So Jeong-hun slammed the soup restaurant table.

“No, CE! This is violence, violence!”

“What violence?”

“Curiosity violence! I was really avoiding all internet with the heart of closing Pandora’s box!”

“Exactly!”

Complaints poured out.

But looking at the faces of those complaining, it seems I did well to reveal it.

Not a single person had slept properly.

Are they competing to see who can grow the biggest dark circles?

“But why are you all so scared?”

“Well…”

It was a casually thrown question, but the actors couldn’t answer.

“Because it feels like we can’t fail?”

“…Yes.”

I had felt it sufficiently.

The whole world was buzzing about the confrontation between Youngpal and Accomplice, but only our group chat was the exception.

They think they’re laughing and chatting, but from my perspective, they were doing their best to run away.

“Right now people are comparing Youngpal with our drama, right?”

“Yes.”

“I made it that way.”

“What?”

“I deliberately made it so Accomplice and Youngpal would be compared.”

“R-really?”

“Yes. Really.”

I explained in detail what had happened so far to the actors.

Their eyes are getting so big they might burst.

“Why, why did you do such a thing?”

“Why? Obviously because we’re going to win.”

“Obviously?”

“Yes. Absolutely.”

At first, I also had doubts about Accomplice’s potential success.

Even if what the supernatural ability showed was the best possible quality, I couldn’t know if it was the highest commercial viability.

So I had thought about it.

Even if the moment came when Accomplice failed spectacularly and I realized that quality alone couldn’t guarantee box office success, I wouldn’t resent the supernatural ability.

But this thinking gradually began to change.

In the underground practice room, at the script reading, on set, in the editing room…

As we completed the work, I became convinced.

This will definitely be successful.

I still believe in the power that art possesses.

I believe in the power of scripts, trust in the power of actors, and have faith in the power of direction.

If our work, which concentrates all of that, fails?

If this work that I believed in, that believed in me, that we believed in, fails?

“That wouldn’t be your fault or my fault. Of course, it wouldn’t be the writer’s or director’s fault either.”

“Then whose?”

“The world would be wrong.”

“What?”

“If Accomplice fails, it means this world is seriously broken somewhere.”

“…?”

“So if Accomplice fails, I’m going to quit being a CE.”

“What?!”

“Let’s all go to Japan and open a ramen restaurant?”

Among the actors who couldn’t speak for a while, actor Park Seong-won opened his mouth with a foolish expression.

“Why does it have to be a ramen restaurant…?”

“Ramen is my soul food. But if we only sell ramen, we won’t be competitive.”

“And ramen is available…?”

“Wouldn’t it be a huge hit? A Korean-style ramen restaurant served by handsome former actors.”

The actors who had been making bewildered expressions inadvertently nodded their heads.

“…It would do well.”

“Wouldn’t it be a huge hit if CE Do served wearing an apron?”

“Wouldn’t it be an even bigger hit if he served wearing only an apron?”

“Seon-jae, are you a genius…?”

Life gradually began to return to the eyes of the actors who had been spouting nonsense.

“Let’s play Accomplice 24/7 on one wall of the restaurant.”

“Nice. Then we’d make some money from the reverse popularity in Japan, right?”

“Should we use that money to cast Director Jung and film Season 2?”

“Oh, that’s not bad.”

“Director Jung has affection for us, so he’d probably film it for no guarantee.”

“Was that just a dad joke?”

“The person who takes that as a dad joke is the real old man.”

“What about the writers?”

“Let’s cling to them crying and begging.”

I have no idea what kind of conversation this is, but even if Accomplice becomes a huge hit in Japan, we won’t get any money from it…

“Wait, but just because Accomplice has a reverse hit doesn’t mean we make money, right?”

“Jae-won hyung, are you a sociopath? Ruining this atmosphere?”

Moon Jae-won and I simultaneously shut our mouths.

Through that silence, Eum Seong-hyeon’s voice could be heard.

“Then can we beat Youngpal?”

“Yes.”

At my voice filled with conviction, the actors began to melt away.

Not their bodies, but their expressions.

The stiff energy from somewhere had disappeared.

From that moment on, our waiting was not anxiety but excitement.

Time passed in an instant.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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