WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Potter
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◈ The Genius Writer Who Will Never Fall Again ◈
Chapter 20: Broadcast (3)
──────
Min Byeong-gi, director of Geomgye Ilgun.
Life was agony.
‘No. This is a lie...!’
His last memory was collapsing backward after seeing the ratings for episode one of Geomgye Ilgun the previous night.
When he came to, he was home. Relieved, he checked the ratings again, thinking the day before had been a dream.
[4.1%]
‘It... wasn’t a dream...!’
Byeong-gi began struggling to breathe.
It reminded him of the terrible days when his previous drama had flopped.
Its first episode had opened at 4.6%.
At the time, he had soothed himself with sayings about humble beginnings leading to grand endings. But the next episode, the one after that, and the one after that all showed no sign of recovering.
There was no need to explain what happened afterward.
The ratings only fell further as the drama went on.
At one point, they slipped below 1%, eventually reaching 0.8%.
It was a horrifying rating, one people said could never happen to a drama on one of the three terrestrial networks.
In a way, it had set a historic record.
Still, that could happen.
It was in the past. What good was there in digging it up again?
That was what he had thought until yesterday.
‘Again? AGAIIIIIN!?’
Starting in the 4% range stirred up his trauma.
And this was even lower than before.
4.1%.
Of course he could not breathe.
Of course terror clouded his mind.
Luckily, there was no filming that day, so Byeong-gi locked himself in his house, chewed at his nails, and trembled in fear.
He needed to enter the denial stage.
‘It won’t happen. It’ll go well this time! Of course it will! Whose writing is this? It’s Writer Han’s script! Everyone acted well! The chief producer said it would succeed too!’
Then a thought suddenly occurred to him.
‘...But if it fails anyway, whose fault is it?’
He reached the question.
‘Mine...?’
And once he reached that conclusion...
“Aaaaaah!”
He kicked his blanket again and again as he screamed.
At that monstrous cry, Yoon Geum-ja, fifty-nine, who still had not managed to get thirty-four-year-old Min Byeong-gi to move out, shouted.
“Byeong-gi! You’re driving me insane with that noise!”
But wounded beast Min Byeong-gi could not stop screaming so easily.
Eventually, his cries faded under ten consecutive Buddha’s Palm strikes from Yoon Geum-ja. It was a war that left him with wounds in both body and soul, with nothing to show for it.
Sniffling, Byeong-gi buried his face in his pillow and shook his head.
‘No. It can’t be my fault! It can’t be my fault! It’ll succeed! It has to succeed! Right!’
Snap!
He raised his head.
‘Yes! A miraculous rebound in episode two! Min Byeong-gi’s glorious directing career! Recognition from everyone! Admiration! Even an acceptance speech at the year-end awards ceremony!’
That was how Byeong-gi recovered his inner peace.
Now, the reason he could hear his heart pounding so loudly was anticipation.
Director Min Byeong-gi stared blankly ahead, grinning as he entertained nothing but happy fantasies.
But he could only smile until eleven that night.
“Mmm! That turned out damn slick. This is an incredible masterpiece, isn’t it?”
After watching episode two on his television at home, Byeong-gi became intoxicated with his own work.
This was the episode where action scenes began appearing and rumors about Yeongho started spreading through nearby streets.
Every scene was such a gem that he wanted to hug it to death.
“Now then, what are the long-awaited ratings!?”
He eagerly searched them up.
Why did people only begin regretting things after they happened?
[4.7%]
He rubbed his eyes. 4.7%.
He hit his head and looked again.
4.7%.
‘Ah.’
Byeong-gi lay back on his bed and closed his eyes.
Director Min Byeong-gi.
Died!
* * *
When I woke up, I had a text from Min Byeong-gi.
It was astonishing.
‘So there was someone who could write even longer texts than Ryu Cheong-a.’
[Min Byeong-gi: Hello, Writer. I am the lowly... no, the world’s most worthless, trashy, pathetic director, Min Byeong-gi. I am sending this text to confess my sins for failing to live up to even one part of your excellent script, the actors’ passionate performances, and my superiors’ faith in me...]
The ratings from the first week must have shocked him badly.
It was so absurd that I let out a hollow laugh.
‘Is this guy really a drama department producer-director?’
Of course the ratings were supposed to turn out like this.
What on earth had made him think we would pull anything higher?
‘He’s practically on Seong-hun hyung’s level.’
I remembered Seong-hun hyung, who had watched episode one with me a few days ago, excitedly searched for the ratings, then comforted me through hiccups.
How was I supposed to take it when an actual drama department producer-director reacted at that level?
I thought about it, then shook my head.
‘Well, maybe his first drama flopping gave him PTSD.’
I had been cracking the whip for a while. Maybe it was time to give him a carrot.
I had time, so I got dressed and headed to the drama department.
Sure enough, when I reached his desk, Min Byeong-gi was curled over it, biting his nails with a click, click.
He flinched when I approached.
“W-w-w-writer?”
“What kind of address was that?”
“Sniff...!”
Ah. Did I really have to watch a middle-aged man tear up and sniffle?
“Stop that. Why are you cry...”
“Writerrrr!”
He rushed at me, so I blocked his face with my arm.
“Don’t cling to me. It’s disgusting.”
“You hate me now too...!?”
“Calm down.”
He would not settle down, so I clicked my tongue.
Surprisingly, Min Byeong-gi calmed down.
Was that why training was important?
Anyway, once the situation settled, I sat across from Min Byeong-gi and spoke.
“This is normal.”
“Excuse me?”
“These ratings are normal.”
“Th-that can’t be...!”
“No, I’m curious. What did you expect our opening ratings to be?”
Min Byeong-gi shyly looked away.
“Maybe around 20%...?”
“...”
“...17%?”
“Ha.”
Right. His self-awareness was completely broken.
“Director.”
“Yes...”
“Do our director, writer, or actors have recognizable names?”
“...No?”
“Did we have money or time for publicity?”
“We didn’t have that either... It was an emergency replacement project, and we spent so much on production.”
“Then would people know about our drama or not?”
“B-but we ranked first in the real-time searches...!”
“Yes, we did. For both episodes one and two.”
“Then why are the ratings...?”
“It’s only natural that it would not show up immediately. Why? Nobody skips episode one and watches episode two. And after episode one aired, there was only one rerun, at lunchtime on Thursday. Only housewives who happened to have free time then would have watched it.”
“Ah?”
Min Byeong-gi still blinked with a foolish expression.
Still, he did not seem completely unable to understand what I was saying.
“It takes time for an underdog like us to build ratings. To begin with, if we were not on a terrestrial network, we would not even be getting a quarter of these ratings. You know why people use famous actors. It’s to draw attention.”
“You mean...”
“Ratings rise week by week. It depends on how well word of mouth spreads, and whether the work appeals to many households and viewer groups. Don’t we meet all those conditions?”
This sort of thing depended on the competition.
And knowing the future meant I could see the competition in advance too.
“Both competing dramas are rom-coms. One is a chaebol rom-com, and one is a commoner rom-com.”
“Uh...”
“While they split the pie between themselves, what are we doing? A historical drama that children and old people alike can watch. A mixed-bag historical drama with noir and even a touch of romance thrown in.”
Mainstream appeal piled on mainstream appeal piled on mainstream appeal.
A long game?
If we lost here, we were complete idiots.
“Now, repeat after me.”
“Yes, yes!”
“Next week’s ratings will be over 10%.”
“Next week’s ratings will... Wait! Really!?”
“If they aren’t, I’ll sear my hand.”
I had memorized the process of how hits were made in this era until I was sick of it.
‘The dawn of smartphones. Television’s influence has not fallen yet, and social media is adding its reach, bringing the power of viral attention to its peak.’
I did analysis too.
Our outside viral metrics were the highest.
More importantly, we could attract not just a specific age group or taste demographic, but a broad range of viewers. There was no way the growth curve would not rise sharply.
I explained all of that to him.
I had no idea why I was doing this, but Min Byeong-gi’s mental state could not waver until the final shoot.
“Do you roughly understand everything?”
“Yes, yes...! I misunderstood!”
“Yes, you did. So get back to work.”
“Yes! But you came all the way here just to tell me this...?”
“Yes, I made the trip.”
Min Byeong-gi started tearing up again.
I felt like I would catch whatever he had if I stayed any longer, so I quickly left.
Just as I was leaving the station...
Ding!
A text arrived.
[Ryu Cheong-a: Hello, Writer. This unworthy actress, Ryu Cheong-a, deeply recognizes her responsibility for the drama’s poor performance and wishes to offer her apologies...]
“...”
Why was she all blanched too?
I shook my head.
I knew they would all stop once the results came out.
I was tired of saying more.
[It’s fine. The ratings will rise. Trust me and keep your head together.]
I hit send.
Still, it was fortunate.
‘There is nothing else I need to worry about.’
The first week of Geomgye Ilgun.
It seemed it would be easy to get past the treacherous stretch from my previous life, and messages like this, worrying only over the drama’s success, erased needless anxiety.
Was that not enough?
I lifted my head.
It was still summer.
The sunlight was hot.
I placed a hand over my heart.
Ridiculously, even though I had not become anything yet, I felt more alive than ever.
‘More...’
Please, until the very end.
So I could know for myself that what I had done was sure to succeed.
I took another step.
Time passed again, and the second week arrived.
* * *
Kim Seong-taek, the head of a Korean household, was unusually excited on his way home from work today.
There was only one reason.
‘I finally get to watch that damn episode three!’
After watching episodes one and two, he had felt like the teasing would kill him. Over the weekend, he had even flipped through channels to catch every rerun.
When was the last time he had felt such enjoyment from watching something?
Thinking back, nothing came to mind from the past few years.
Was Geomgye Ilgun really that extraordinary?
With only two episodes aired, Seong-taek did not think so.
It was just that...
‘There had to be something worth watching in the first place.’
Every drama was about love or money.
They showed the same things over and over, and Seong-taek did not particularly enjoy those stories.
A drama that could sweep away the little stresses of daily life while still being fun.
An ordinary drama that would make anyone say, “This is worth watching,” or “This is fun.”
There had not been one.
As far as Seong-taek felt, dramas had clearly been in a long dry spell lately.
Then Geomgye Ilgun appeared at just the right time.
Seong-taek was not the only one who found it fun. After the weekend passed and the new week began, people started talking about Geomgye Ilgun during lunch at work.
Most comments were only things like, “Ah, I heard that new drama has good reviews. I should look it up later.”
Still, those words showed how faithfully it met the promise of being something anyone could enjoy.
When he got home, he would eat, wash up, crack open a beer before bed, and watch his drama.
For Seong-taek, Geomgye Ilgun had become that small break in daily life.
It was not anything grand or special.
For most people simply living through the day, that was what dramas meant.
Of course, Seong-taek had no way of knowing that was the production team’s intention.
“I’m home!”
He opened the front door.
He flipped through channels to kill time before the drama began.
Before he knew it, it was ten o’clock.
“Honey, you’re watching that drama again this week, right?”
“Yeah, I have to. Can’t you watch the other one as a rerun later?”
“Huh? No, I was asking because I wanted to watch that one too.”
“What? You’re watching it today too?”
Even his two daughters, who had been shut away in their rooms, drifted out once it was time for the drama.
The family gathered around the living room sofa.
A sense of domestic warmth filled the room.
“Ah, it’s starting.”
Crack!
Seong-taek opened his beer.
An hour later, he rediscovered a feeling he had forgotten.
[Could You Want My Love~]
“Hey! How can they cut it off there!?”
“Good grief, who’s the writer? How can someone be that cruel?”
“I don’t know. I heard this writer has no previous work. Seriously, how can a person be like that?”
Kim Seong-taek and his family.
They had fallen victim to cliffhanger mastery again!
* * *
The second week of the third quarter was an ordinary week for some, but not in the drama industry.
This was when it gradually became clear who would surge ahead this quarter and who would fall behind.
And the quarter’s storm quietly began to raise its head.
“G-Geomgye Ilgun’s episode three ratings are...”
“...9.4%? Didn’t it have absolutely no hit-making hooks? I heard every actor and the writer were rookies!”
Geomgye Ilgun, which everyone thought would prop up the bottom of the quarter, had quietly emerged.
No, it did not stop at merely emerging.
“Episode four got 10.7%.”
“It’s rising? That?”
The competing dramas truly realized that something was wrong after the third week finished airing.
“...17%. It closed at 17.6% this week.”
“What the...!”
Geomgye Ilgun’s upward momentum was becoming steeper with every passing week.
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