Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 252

“The drama?”

Min So-young’s expression was troubled.

“Yes. Do you think it’ll… do well?”

“Ah, yes, well…”

Seeing Min So-young’s face, Jung Seok-soo grew even more confused. Her expression was more bewildered than troubled. It wasn’t that she was worried about consoling a manager whose actor was in a doomed drama; she was simply flustered by Jung Seok-soo’s question.

‘Why is she so flustered?’

Is there any reason to be flustered here?

Jung Seok-soo was puzzled but waited quietly for Min So-young’s answer.

“Ah, well… you see…”

Min So-young turned to the other PR team members.

“How was the drama? Do you think it’ll do well?”

They all failed to give a proper answer.

‘It’s a bust.’

No matter how he looked at it, their reaction was a failure. Though, it was a little different from the usual reaction.

However, Min So-young’s next words were completely unexpected.

“I’m sorry to say this, but…”

“Yes?”

“I can’t really remember the drama’s plot.”

“Yes?”

Jung Seok-soo stared at Min So-young, dumbfounded.

Who were these people who had just watched the drama with such focus, as if they were at a premiere? How could they not remember the plot?

Unless they had changed the channel and watched something else while he was gone, it didn’t make any sense.

“No, that’s…”

Min So-young said with an awkward smile.

“That, Se-ah’s brother…”

“…Kang Jin-ho?”

“Ah, so his name is Kang Jin-ho. Anyway, he was so intense…”

When Jung Seok-soo looked at her as if to say, ‘Has this woman lost it?’, Min So-young turned her head, looking wronged, and asked.

“Wasn’t he?”

“That’s right.”

“Wow, I’ve only heard the term ‘scene stealer,’ but I never really understood what it meant. Today, I realized what it means. I have no idea what Choi Yeon-ha did.”

Min So-young turned to Jung Seok-soo with a protesting expression.

“See?”

“What is going on?”

Jung Seok-soo wiped the sweat from his forehead.

When the PD [Production Director] and Choi Yeon-ha were making a fuss and dragging Kang Jin-ho in, he thought there might be something to it, but this was beyond anything he imagined.

“More importantly… what have you been doing, Jung Seok-soo?”

“Yes?”

“You had such a great actor right next to you, why haven’t you signed him yet? It’s going to be a big deal now, are you confident you won’t miss him?”

“An actor?”

That embodiment of bad acting?

The very person who blew up the drama schedule by taking a whole day to film one scene was an actor?

Min So-young was calmly saying things that would have made everyone on set burst out laughing if they had heard it.

“Was he that good?”

“…Well, I guess things like this do happen.”

It was common in this industry for someone considered just good-looking to suddenly become an actor and then unbelievably handsome under the camera’s gaze.

‘I didn’t know he would turn out like that’ was a pretty common saying in this industry.

“Still, it’s your job to recognize that and pick him up, Jung Seok-soo.”

“No, no.”

Jung Seok-soo waved his hand.

“He only appeared because of Se-ah. Kang Jin-ho isn’t trying to become an actor.”

“What? He’s not going to be an actor? With that face? Then a model?”

“No, he has absolutely no interest in the entertainment industry.”

Min So-young couldn’t hide her expression that said, ‘What nonsense is this?’ Jung Seok-soo, who felt more from Min So-young’s expression than words could express, couldn’t help but wonder how to explain this situation.

“Anyway, how is the drama doing? Did it do well, or did it flop?”

“Just a moment.”

Min So-young turned away from Jung Seok-soo and asked.

“What about the real-time search rankings? What about the viewership ratings?”

“The average viewership rating is 4.8%. The peak viewership rating is…”

“How much?”

“It was 8.2%?”

“Wow.”

Min So-young’s mouth dropped open, and Jung Seok-soo asked urgently.

“Is that good?”

“The average viewership rating seems pretty good. How should I put it, it’s not a huge hit… no, it might be a hit…”

“Isn’t it a good start for a cable drama to be close to 5% on its first broadcast?”

“Choi Yeon-ha was in it. Where else would you find a cable drama using an actor of that caliber? Then it should have easily surpassed 5%. It’s a bit awkward that it didn’t, but it’s not a flop either…”

Jung Seok-soo tilted his head, as if he couldn’t understand.

Good, bad, average.

There were many ways to clearly categorize it, but why was she dragging it out like this?

“The peak viewership rating is very high. I can guess what scene it was…”

“Yes?”

“Uh, well…”

Min So-young was also confused, and she was rambling.

“So! It’s average! The first broadcast itself is average. It didn’t flop, but it didn’t become a hit either. However, the peak viewership rating is high, and if that peak viewership rating starts to generate buzz…”

Mid-sentence, Min So-young turned her head and shouted.

“What’s the real-time search ranking?!”

“Manager.”

“Just tell me already.”

“The drama title is second in real-time searches.”

Min So-young clenched her fist.

If it was a new drama, it was natural for it to appear in real-time searches, but for a drama that started with such viewership ratings to be second in real-time searches meant that its buzz was high compared to its viewership ratings.

‘This might actually work?’

“And ‘Actor playing Choi Yeon-ha’s boyfriend’ is first in real-time searches?”

Jung Seok-soo chuckled at those words.

“Ha, that guy… he’s been first in real-time searches twice in a short time. He’s the person of the year, the person of the year.”

Jung Seok-soo’s hollow laughter represented their feelings.

“How is it?”

“The phones are paralyzed! Inquiries are exploding.”

“See?”

PD Jang Hak-sun grinned as he looked at his phone.

“The reaction is explosive. That’s how it should be!”

It was a bit disappointing that the first episode’s viewership rating was slightly lower than expected, but this was an inevitable result. Because the focus of the first episode was on Kang Jin-ho, there was a lack of promotional material.

Moreover, it was much more beneficial for people who watched the drama to spread the word themselves rather than revealing the scene in advance.

“They’re asking which agency that actor belongs to?”

“Tell them he doesn’t have one.”

“I said that, but they’re saying how can an actor not have an agency?”

“Just say he’s here.”

The grin on PD Jang Hak-sun’s face didn’t stop as he answered.

“Do you think it’ll be a real hit?”

“Can’t you tell from the reaction? Honestly, even though I filmed it, I was dumbfounded, so how would the viewers feel? This is a scene that will be talked about in drama history.”

Jang Hak-sun chuckled.

“Should we tell them he’s Kang Se-ah’s brother?”

“It’s okay to tell them, but wouldn’t the sharp-eyed reporters have already noticed? If you have any close reporters, give them some bait before it’s published. But tell them to write it well.”

“Yes! I understand.”

As the assistant director left the editing room, Jang Hak-sun picked up his phone with a satisfied expression and went to social media.

= My thoughts after watching the first episode of ‘Love Still Comes.’ I don’t remember anything about the drama’s plot, I just keep thinking about the face of the guy who played Choi Yeon-ha’s boyfriend. When will the replay be available?

= If it’s this epic, there should be a lot of articles, but why aren’t there any articles? I need to watch what I saw again… Do your job, reporters.

= Did the broadcasting station not release a press release?

= They’re replaying it at 1 AM tonight. Must watch the replay.

= Was it that good?

= I don’t know if it was good… Ah, anyway, you have to watch it. Just watch it. You’ll know what I mean. I felt like I was watching the scene where DiCaprio appears in that old movie.

= You’re exaggerating too much. Who are you comparing him to?

= Yeah. Go watch it. Then talk.

“Not yet. Not yet.”

PD Jang Hak-sun suppressed the urge to release the press release right away. He had already selected the best shot, but these kinds of photos tasted best when they were released after the rice was cooked and steamed. It wasn’t good to just release them without a plan.

“I wonder if our Kang Jin-ho watched the drama?”

With his personality, he didn’t seem like the type to watch a drama, but now he would have no choice but to watch it.

Because he would be in an uproar from the people around him.

“It’s such a shame.”

As much as he was happy, he was also upset. To only be able to use that living sculpture, who created that epic visual, once.

If Kang Jin-ho was even a little bit good at acting, he would produce a drama with him as the lead, but if he made a drama with Kang Jin-ho, a person who required countless efforts to film one scene, it would take more than three years to film one episode.

This time, it was a static scene, so it could be handled with post-dubbing, but that was only possible because the cut was short. The drama filming schedule was already tight, and having to do additional dubbing was absolutely impossible under the Korean drama production conditions.

Unless it was a movie.

‘Should I try making a silent movie?’

Jang Hak-sun chuckled and smacked his head. Things were going so well that he was having all sorts of thoughts. For now, it was more important to finish the drama he was currently filming than to have such thoughts.

“The peak viewership rating exceeded 8%…”

Generally, for a peak viewership rating to exceed 8%, the average viewership rating would have to be around 6%. But for a peak viewership rating of 8% to come out when the average viewership rating didn’t even exceed 5% meant that the scene had that much impact.

Now, word of mouth and social media would spread the impressions of the first episode, and people who were curious would look for the main broadcast.

From the second episode, the full story line would begin, so if they didn’t lose the viewers who had been drawn in, the success of the drama was as good as guaranteed.

“No, that’s not enough.”

Jang Hak-sun clenched his fist and opened the editing room door.

“In-hyuk! In-hyuk!”

“Yes! Director!”

“Contact Code, please.”

“Code?”

“Yes. Contact Kang Se-ah’s manager and tell them I have something to say to Kang Jin-ho, and ask them to connect me.”

“What should I say is the purpose?”

Jang Hak-sun grinned.

“Tell him that since the reaction is explosive, I’m wondering if he’d like to appear again in the latter half. Tell him I’ll do my best to push him.”

“I understand.”

While thinking about how to persuade Kang Jin-ho, Jang Hak-sun saw a new tweet update on his phone screen that he had left on the table.

= I saw the male actor from ‘Love Still Comes’! He was working at a pizza place. At first, I wasn’t sure, but it was him! I even took a picture with him.

The newly posted tweet included a photo of two women with their faces blurred, holding Kang Jin-ho’s arms. The number of retweets and comments began to increase so much that the phone was lagging.

= Where is that?

= Share the address! Right now!

= He even takes pictures. That face looks right.

= I didn’t realize it when I saw him on screen, but looking at the picture, his body is no joke. Look at that fit.

= This is the first time in my life that a chef’s uniform has looked so cool.

A storm that would fluster Kang Jin-ho was slowly revealing itself online.