WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Potter

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◈ Why Do My Dramas Keep Becoming Hits!? ◈

Chapter 11: Mistaken for Someone Out of the Blue (2)

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"Haah..."

In a workroom thick with acrid cigarette smoke, writer Kim Myeong-hwan let out a deep sigh and rubbed his face.

Then the smartphone at the corner of the desk lit up with a brief vibration.

[Writer! When do you think we might receive the next script? Are you still working out the story?]

The sender was PD Ji Seo-yoon from Studio Miracle.

Kim Myeong-hwan's brow furrowed deeply after reading her message.

"...It's not like I don't want to give it to you. What am I supposed to do when I can't think of what comes next?"

Biting his lip, Kim Myeong-hwan turned toward the monitor.

Files titled 'Part 1_Final Revision.hwp' and 'Part 2_Final Revision.hwp' were open on the screen. Beside them was the original file, [Untitled_For-Real-Real-Real Final Draft.hwp].

With trembling hands, Kim Myeong-hwan opened the Untitled file.

Its gripping plot, vividly alive characters, and weighty dialogue caught the eye at once. No matter how many times he reread it, it was an insane script that made him marvel.

But it was not a script Kim Myeong-hwan had written.

"Fuck... It's not like I can't write something like this."

Kim Myeong-hwan was in a terrible slump.

There had once been a time when hit after hit had made the networks treat them like royalty. But that was all in the past. Their recent projects had failed one after another, and their reputation in the industry had crashed into the gutter.

Just as they were painfully realizing that they had lost their touch, PD Ji Seo-yoon had contacted them.

[Writer! There was a file called 'Untitled' mixed in with the files you sent yesterday. Is this the ambitious new project you've been keeping under wraps?! It's incredible!]

They had sent over the scraps they had discarded after getting stuck while writing.

Naturally, they had assumed the quality was so poor that she would not even look at them. Instead, she had become fixated on an unknown script.

A script called Untitled.

Yet Kim Myeong-hwan had never written a script with that title.

It seemed that someone else's script had accidentally gotten mixed in with Kim Myeong-hwan's files while they were sorting through them. So they opened the Untitled file Ji Seo-yoon had sent back to check it.

'This is insane. This is guaranteed to be a hit.'

No, they instinctively knew it would be more than a hit. It would become the best drama of the year.

Who wrote this? Who are they?

Admiration and jealousy toward the unknown writer surged wildly through them.

But only for a moment.

Soon, a devil's whisper began to echo in their mind.

'What if... I continued it?'

This one script could restore their former glory.

Maybe it could take him even higher.

Under that sweet temptation, it did not take long for a lie to leave their lips.

[Ah, yes, PD. That's the new project I've been preparing.]

But once they had done it, fear struck hard.

They did not even know who the real owner of the script was.

What if the actual author appeared while the drama was being produced and accused them of plagiarism?

Their career as a writer would be over that day.

So Kim Myeong-hwan started scheming.

They took a knife to Parts 1 and 2, revising them heavily.

They subtly twisted the character settings and the direction of the story, shuffled the episode order, and forced stale clichés onto it under the excuse of adding their own color.

The plan was to mumble that the premise had simply overlapped by coincidence if the original author appeared later.

But the real problem was that the revised Parts 1 and 2 had become painfully uninteresting.

"Ah, fuck... Why did the writing get so stiff and childish?"

The original's taut tension and brisk pacing had vanished, leaving only an artificial feeling floating around.

It was like grinding premium 1++ Korean beef sirloin in a blender and shaping it into a cheap hamburger steak.

On top of that, the biggest obstacle was that beginning with Part 3, he had to create entirely new material.

"Fuck... The original author just threw this in without thinking. How am I supposed to continue the story from here?"

If they turned this in, getting caught would only be a matter of time.

Should they come clean to PD Ji even now?

Tell her that they had not actually written the nameless script?

"...."

No. They could never do that.

The water had already been spilled, and their pathetic pride would not allow it.

"Whew. Fine. I can do this. Who do you think I am? I'm Kim Myeong-hwan."

Their form might have slipped, and they might be in a slump, but they still had decades of experience writing.

If they could somehow make the structure fit and wrap it up in polished technique, the basic quality would be guaranteed.

'I'll write it somehow. Even if I have to grit my teeth, I'll finish it.'

They placed both hands over the keyboard again.

The clatter of keys, mixed with anxiety, impatience, and boiling greed, began to fill the dark workroom.

Of course, it was only a matter of time before the sandcastle they had built came crashing down.

#

"Khahah! You bastard! See? I told you it'd work!"

"...."

"Man, a Grand Prize! Yeon-woo, honestly, I'm practically the one who made you a writer. You know that, right? Treat me well from now on!"

Yoon Dong-woo's voice was as fired up as the steaming gukbap bubbling in the earthenware bowl before us.

Whether he knew about the turmoil inside me or not, he kept trying desperately to raise the mood.

But I couldn't possibly play along.

"Haah..."

"Why's this bastard been so gloomy all this time? Are you really the guy who won the Grand Prize?"

"...That's exactly why I'm going insane."

Winning the Grand Prize meant that a drama would definitely be made from my script.

That miserable, horrifying pile of discarded garbage.

"I seriously don't get it. Does tvM have money to burn? Why would they make this crap into a drama?"

"There you go again. I told you to fix that whole 'my writing sucks' syndrome of yours."

"It's not a syndrome. It's a fact. I worked as a drama PD in this business for years. You think I can't tell a hit from a total flop?"

It was a typical mass-produced fantasy novel, full of forced conflicts with no logic and utterly devoid of plausibility.

The dialogue was so cringeworthy that even though I had written it myself, I was embarrassed to keep my eyes open while reading it.

Why else would I have kept getting stuck and thrown it away?

Fine, let's say the writing somehow hit just right and won the Grand Prize.

But there were scripts like that in the drama industry from time to time.

'Scripts that are only fun to read.'

The pleasure of reading words and the pleasure of watching a drama were entirely different things.

Everyone would laugh their heads off at a script reading, then once it was brought to life on screen, all they could do was sigh.

My script was exactly that kind of case.

Of course, by my standards, it wasn't even fun to read. But if it was adapted for the screen, those terrible flaws would stand out several times more blatantly.

I could guarantee that its ratings would be an absolute disaster.

"Whew... I wonder if it'll even pull the kind of ratings the national anthem gets at sign-off."

Yoon Dong-woo crunched on a piece of cubed radish kimchi and asked back.

"What's wrong with flopping? Everyone starts out that way."

"Hey. You know exactly what my family gatherings are like, and you're saying that? Half my relatives work in show business. If my drama totally flops, I won't be able to show my face at holidays anymore."

This would be permanently preserved as a nationwide black mark.

And since it was a romantic comedy, the cringe would be doubled. I could already picture the gossip from relatives and mockery from viewers.

But most horrifying of all were those fucking bastards Han Kang-hee and Park Jun-hyung.

I didn't even need to see it to know how hard they'd laugh behind my back after watching my failed drama.

'Khahaha! After getting kicked out of the network, this garbage is all he can churn out by writing?'

'Ugh, he had no instincts when he was a PD either. Just look at that writing. Is that a drama, or a waste of airtime?'

Ugh. Just imagining those bastards clutching their stomachs and laughing made stomach acid rise into my throat.

It was humiliation my pride could never allow.

"You worry about the strangest things."

"You call this strange? Do you not know how badly those bastards and I hate each other?"

"Then just refuse the award."

"Are you crazy? The Grand Prize money is 100 million won!"

"Fuck, then what do you want me to say..."

Money or honor.

My reason was swinging wildly between the massive lifeline of 100 million won about to land in my account and becoming a nationwide black mark.

Unable to watch me anymore, Yoon Dong-woo clicked his tongue and leaned toward me.

"Seriously, you have it easy. Don't be scared. There's something you don't know."

"?"

"A debut project from a complete rookie writer gets treated about the same across the board. You were a PD too, so you know. Do you think network people are crazy enough to pour money into an unproven newcomer's writing?"

Yoon Dong-woo began laying out a lengthy, convincing argument.

"They'll squeeze the budget down as low as possible, then shove it into some Broadcast slot nobody watches, like late on a weekday night or weekend morning. And casting? No need to even mention it. They'll stick some idol an agency is trying to push in a package deal into the lead role."

"...."

"Then even if it completely bombs, everyone will just accept it. And honestly, are the public going to care much about a rookie writer's debut? It's not like tvM will put your drama on a huge banner and market it aggressively."

"...You think so?"

"Yeah. So just accept it if it flops. If you don't go blabbing about it, those bastards Han Kang-hee and Park Jun-hyung will probably not even know it aired. People don't give nearly as much of a shit about you as you think."

The moment I heard Yoon Dong-woo's passionate speech, it felt like the tightness in my chest completely melted away.

'Come to think of it, he's fucking right.'

They would barely market it enough to go through the motions, and they would dump it into a Broadcast slot nobody watched.

Then it would quietly end without leaving a trace, and there was a good chance Department Head Han Kang-hee would go on without ever knowing my drama had existed.

In other words, all I had to do was pocket the 100 million won prize and bury my black mark without anyone ever knowing.

Once I reached that conclusion, I could finally shake off the anxiety that had been weighing me down.

"Hehehe. Now that I think about it, you're right. One hundred million won is such easy money."

"Crazy bastard. Your mood goes up and down so fast. Are you bipolar or something?"

#

The large conference room of tvM's drama bureau.

Department heads from each team and Bureau Chief Tae San-hyeok filled a large table, with various proposals and handouts scattered messily over it.

"It certainly was impressive. It was by far the best script I've seen lately."

"Exactly. I expected the writer wouldn't be some mediocre rookie, but I never imagined he was such a major talent."

"Still, didn't everyone feel it? The veteran touch of Writer Seo Eun-hye was visible in the character-building process."

"Ha ha. Either way, this is good news for us. The assistant of that high-and-mighty Seo Eun-hye has fallen into our hands of his own accord."

The conference room was practically in a festive mood.

It was not what they had intended, but one fact was clear. tvM had secured that monstrous writer.

Drunk on victory, they were busy painting a rosy future.

But the heated mood froze at one weighty remark from Department Head Ha Do-woon.

"However, will that writer truly stay with us until the end?"

Everyone's eyes naturally turned toward Department Head Ha Do-woon.

Of course, they all understood the basis of the question.

This was someone who had turned down a signing bonus worth hundreds of millions of won and the lead writer position for a 30 billion won tentpole, insisting on following the cumbersome Script Contest procedure by the book.

Then he had submitted perfect scripts for Parts 3 and 4.

Yet as PD Woo Young-taek had reported, these were closer to a showcase.

The same script had surely already reached the planning desks of other networks. Unless those people were blind, they would be frantically running the numbers and preparing for a bidding war.

"...Ahem."

"Hmm..."

The thoughts of Department Head Ha Do-woon and the other executives became tangled.

Ji Yeon-woo was no longer merely a rookie writer in their minds.

They had transformed him into a terrifying strategist and industry titan, moving pieces across a chessboard while holding the networks on leashes.

'Just as expected of an assistant who learned how to work the board under Writer Seo Eun-hye. The scale is no joke.'

'It feels like we're being pulled into that writer's pace...'

No one could easily offer a solution.

If the writer declared tomorrow that he disliked something and would withdraw the script, all the executives could do was stand by helplessly and watch it happen.

"Given the circumstances, if something like what happened with Writer Seong occurs again, I don't know what we'll do..."

"And Han Kang-hee certainly won't sit still either."

Those around the table each offered concerns of their own.

Meanwhile, Bureau Chief Tae San-hyeok had remained silent throughout the meeting, absorbed in the Part 4 script.

Without looking up from the pages, Tae San-hyeok finally spoke in a low voice.

"He really is the spitting image of Seo Eun-hye, that woman."

"Ah, yes. That's true."

"As far as the Part 4 script goes, I think he is even better than his mentor. He has perfectly compensated for Writer Seo Eun-hye's tendency to drag in the later half..."

"No."

Then Bureau Chief Tae San-hyeok slowly lifted his eyes from the script and looked around the room.

"Not the writing. I mean the way he behaves. It's exactly like that woman."

Back when Tae San-hyeok had been a field PD, he had had several opportunities to work with Writer Seo Eun-hye.

But every time, she would offer only vague verbal commitments, then ultimately slip away to another network with better terms.

After repeatedly suffering through Writer Seo Eun-hye's foxlike push and pull, Tae San-hyeok had paid plenty in tuition.

Only then had Tae San-hyeok learned how to tame such proud geniuses.

"Do-woon. How much did you say we were budgeting?"

"Yes, Bureau Chief. Unless there are major script revisions or added locations, we are considering 1.5 billion won per episode. For a sixteen-episode series, our upper limit is around 30 billion won total."

"Spend more."

"...!!"

"Y-yes?!"

The executives' eyes went wide at the bombshell order.

Bureau Chief Tae San-hyeok's sharp gaze returned to the script's cover.

"Do you think 30 billion won will satisfy him? If he's playing hard to get, being stingy will only make him run away. We need to put in at least 50 billion won before our writer happily takes the bait."

"Fifty billion won...?"

"Bureau Chief, no matter what, that is too reckless for a script that hasn't even been proven yet..."

Naturally, producing a single drama cost astronomical amounts of money.

Actors' fees, large-scale location shoots, and set construction costs.

When top-tier filming equipment rentals and post-production CG work were added, tens of billions of won were no big deal in the modern broadcasting industry.

Even considering all those generous conditions, starting with 50 billion won was clearly an excessive gamble.

"Why? Is that not enough? Should I pull money from the entertainment bureau budget if we need more?"

"N-no, sir!"

Everyone present showed deep doubt over the absurd amount of 50 billion won.

Of course, Bureau Chief Tae San-hyeok had once been like them, too. More than once, he had tried to save every last penny while calculating costs, only to lose enormous talents like Writer Seo Eun-hye right in front of him.

And what had happened then?

The competing networks' ratings had exploded, leaving nothing but regret.

The choice Tae San-hyeok was making now was built on those bitter experiences.

"Then make it lavish. Exactly how that writer wants it."

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