I was Mistaken as a Monstrous Genius Actor [EN]: Chapter 56

“······20.3%??!!”

Song Man-woo PD’s wry announcement left everyone in the barbecue restaurant gaping. It was a figure that warranted such a reaction.

“R-Really?”

“PD-nim! Don’t joke around!”

“Seriously, 20.3%??!”

At the staff’s urging, Song Man-woo PD gave a thumbs up.

“That’s right, 20.3%.”

The dozens of staff and actors erupted in cheers, an almost excessive display of excitement.

“Whoaaaaa!!”

“Crazy! We broke 20%?!”

“Cheers, cheers!!”

“Totally awesome! Tomorrow’s going to be a madhouse?!”

“Hey, hey! Let’s eat and drink till we drop tonight!!”

Hugging and jumping, they transformed the second floor of the barbecue restaurant into a club. They were united in their joy. All the hardships they had endured while working their butts off vanished in that moment.

Pure frenzy.

The staff poured and drank, sharing their excitement, while the actors joined in, envisioning their bright futures. The actors’ managers were busy making phone calls. Meanwhile, the assistant director ran downstairs to spread the incredible news.

Like passing a baton.

“What were the viewership ratings??!”

Choi Sung-gun, ponytail bouncing, rushed up to the second floor. Behind him were other actors’ managers. Upon hearing the ratings, Choi Sung-gun’s expression shifted.

“······Haha. 20%?”

He seemed slightly unhinged. It was a viewership rating he had never imagined. Seeing this, Song Man-woo PD smiled, offering Choi Sung-gun a shot of soju [Korean distilled liquor].

“It’s been about three years, I think, since a drama hit 20%.”

“But… wasn’t it almost unheard of for a drama to hit 20% with its first episode?”

“That’s a record, right? No, it’s history. All the broadcasting stations promoted it like crazy, and the media hyped up the ‘drama war’ angle. Viewers checked out the options and settled on ours, that’s the picture?”

Song Man-woo PD explained, clinking glasses with a dazed Choi Sung-gun while addressing the entire staff.

“But this isn’t the final overall rating, it’s an interim tally, so it might be a bit different. But it’ll probably be pretty close.”

Song Man-woo PD patted the shoulder of Kang Woo-jin, who sat quietly, a hint of cynicism on his face.

“Park Dae-ri [Kang Woo-jin’s character] really held the tension in the latter half. So, fewer viewers probably switched channels. It might even come out higher.”

Soon, the staff showered praise on Kang Woo-jin, who remained silent.

“Wow, Park Dae-ri! Park Dae-ri!”

“Of course! Park Dae-ri’s impact was amazing!”

“Woo-jin-ssi! Aren’t you being too calm??! Haha!”

However, Kang Woo-jin was, to put it mildly, deeply indifferent. Why? Because he was so shocked his mind had stalled.

‘Crazy. 20%? We broke 20%?’

Even without a deep understanding of the entertainment industry, Kang Woo-jin knew a 20% drama viewership rating was a huge deal. He remembered the national buzz when a drama became a hit. In today’s broadcasting landscape, even exceeding 10% was considered a high rating. This was double that.

‘If it’s 20%… how many people watched it??’

It was an enormous result. Woo-jin was reminded of the subspace [a reference to a game-like system in the novel].

-[2/Script (Title: Profiler Han Ryang Part 1), S-Class]

‘S-Class! Wow- S-Class is insane.’

Moreover, it was just the first episode. The impact of S-Class was just beginning. At that moment, some of the staff, who had been in a constant uproar, suddenly pointed at Kang Woo-jin.

“Ah! Come to think of it, Woo-jin-ssi’s specs are really good from the start??!”

“Oh, oh, that’s right! His filmography is amazing! He won the acting award at a short film festival, and his first drama gets a 20% viewership rating??!”

“Hehe, that’s right! Woo-jin-ssi won the bet! He guessed it exactly, right? 20%!”

“Wow, that’s right??!”

At that moment.

‘Ah.’

Amid the staff’s praise, Song Man-woo PD, looking at Kang Woo-jin, realized something.

‘He guessed 20% exactly?’

It was the viewership rating bet they had made before the drama started. Come to think of it, Kang Woo-jin had.

‘I’ll bet 50,000 won on 20%.’

He had muttered 20% in a very low tone. And now, it had come true. Because of that, Song Man-woo PD narrowed his brow slightly and muttered to himself.

“…Rather than a totem activation, this is just future prediction level.”

It was already unsettling that he was so perceptive and unusual, but to accurately guess the numbers? Song Man-woo PD wondered if Kang Woo-jin was really human. If he was, wouldn’t he be something like a god’s secretary?

Of course, that wasn’t the case at all.

In this bet, Woo-jin had just guessed randomly. He hadn’t used the power of the subspace. In a way, it was purely Kang Woo-jin’s intuition. The art of guessing based on the flow. However, Song Man-woo PD was serious.

Furthermore.

-Swish.

Writer Park Eun-mi once again grabbed Kang Woo-jin’s hand and closed her eyes.

“Thank you, thank you.”

It was like expressing gratitude to a totem. So, Kang Woo-jin decided to just let it go this time as well. Honestly, reacting was a bit of a hassle. Then, about 500,000 won, accumulated from the bet, was handed over to Kang Woo-jin.

“Park Dae-ri-nim wins! Here’s your prize money!”

The stack of misunderstandings was piling up in real-time, but.

‘Awesome, free money.’

Kang Woo-jin was just happy without thinking too much about it.

After that.

Around midnight, Kang Woo-jin was on his way home in a van. Even then, texts and messages were flooding his phone.

-Vroom.

‘I’m getting so many messages.’

Director Shin Dong-chun and Director Kwon Ki-taek, who had suddenly become stars at the ‘Mise-en-scène Film Festival,’ his family, close friends, acquaintances, and so on. Messages were piling up in real-time.

The interesting thing was.

‘Why is this person… suddenly texting and making a fuss?’

Even acquaintances he had forgotten were sending messages. There weren’t many yet, but more than five had come.

-Kim Ah-jung: Woo-jin-ah~ It’s been a while. But you’re acting? Is that you in the drama?

-Park Jin-jae: Kang Woo-jin! You’re in a drama? Did you start acting??

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Kang Woo-jin, wondering what was going on, casually ignored the messages. They didn’t really mean anything. For now, he had to reply to work-related messages only. Since Choi Sung-gun and the team were in the van, it would be better to contact his family and close friends later.

At that moment.

“Wow-”

Han Ye-jung, with her bobbed hair, sitting to Woo-jin’s right, chimed in with a cool tone.

“Articles are pouring out every second on all three major portal sites right now.”

As Han Ye-jung said, articles about ‘Profiler Han Ryang’ were being generated every second.

『[Drama Pick] ‘Profiler Han Ryang’ was a whirlwind from the first episode』

To be precise, it had been like that since it started airing, and the media’s choice was ‘Profiler Han Ryang.’ Among the dramas in the ‘drama war,’ ‘Profiler Han Ryang’ was by far the most outstanding.

『’Drama War’ Among the three broadcasting stations, ‘Profiler Han Ryang’ shows overwhelming quality』

『[Issue Pick] Ryu Jung-min, Hong Hye-yeon, and others’ flawless acting drew viewers in… ‘Profiler Han Ryang’ foreshadows a storm』

Moreover, the media also had a pipeline to hear about the viewership ratings. In other words, everyone knew that ‘Han Ryang’ was a hit.

『’Profiler Han Ryang’ exceeds 20% in real-time interim viewership ratings』

The unusual thing was.

『Who is actor Kang Woo-jin, who plays ‘Park Dae-ri’? Turns out he’s a rookie actor who won the acting award at the ‘Mise-en-scène Film Festival’』

Kang Woo-jin’s name was being mentioned a lot in the articles. Because he was an actor with a story. Moreover, Park Dae-ri’s impact in the mid-to-late part of ‘Han Ryang’ was intense.

『[Photo] ‘No wonder writer Park Eun-mi praised him, rookie actor Kang Woo-jin’s scene-stealing acting was amazing/Photo』

However, the current situation was just the tip of the iceberg. It was just the reaction for about two hours after the drama ended. A silent, huge storm was approaching. The storm would show its true power starting tomorrow when public opinion joined in.

That public opinion was already half-crazed.

-Wow, this is so fun, I just finished it in an hour lol

-I’ve decided on Han Ryang

-This is legendary lololol I knew there would be so many comments lol

-What is this immersion from the first episode??????!!

It was the same just looking at the talk board on the official ‘Profiler Han Ryang’ website. The number of posts viewers had uploaded already exceeded ten thousand.

It was like 100 more were being added every time you blinked.

Usually, when a new drama starts, the number of comments on the talk board was at most 1,000. More than ten times that number of real-time comments were being posted every second.

-Definitely… the quality of the drama is different because they gathered only acting powerhouses, the acting on the other channel MBS is full of holes

-Kang Woo-jin? Does he not have any previous works? I can’t find any

-I peed my pants when Park Dae-ri came out at the end

-Ah… but Ryu Jung-min is so handsomeㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ

-Kang Woo-jin? Even though he’s a rookie, his acting is chilling?

-Wow, I thought I was watching a movie lololol

-The dialogue and development are definitely Park Eun-mi-esque, but it’s so fun

-The tension really went up when Park Dae-ri came out at the end, a real scene-stealer!

Of course, Kang Woo-jin’s name was seen quite a bit.

This atmosphere grew throughout the night of the 15th and into the early morning of the 16th. It spread rapidly across the country, regardless of the media or public opinion. From the internet to the internet, from cell phone to cell phone, from finger to finger.

And finally, through word of mouth.

The impact of a 20% viewership rating was indeed significant. Then, on the morning of the 16th, the ‘Profiler Han Ryang’ side announced the official overall viewership rating for the first episode.

『[Rankings] ‘Profiler Han Ryang’ makes a splash from the first episode, official viewership rating 20.5%』

『Record-breaking performance, ‘Profiler Han Ryang’ starts as a legend with a 20.5% viewership rating』

It was indeed a figure that exceeded 20%. This became the starting point.

No, in fact, people all over the country were already talking about ‘Profiler Han Ryang.’ First, on the morning of the 16th, the entertainment news sections of famous portal sites were filled with ‘Profiler Han Ryang.’ Other dramas were also visible from time to time, but ‘Han Ryang’ was overwhelming.

And also on the radio in many cars driving on the road.

“Shall we start with a drama for the first issue? ‘Profiler Han Ryang’! Did you watch it?”

“Ah- I didn’t watch it, but my mom said she did. I heard the first episode’s viewership rating exceeded 20%?”

“That’s right, I heard it’s a record. I watched it, you know? Wow- the acting is amazing. Ah, I was impressed by the actor who played the psychopath.”

“Hmm? Who is it?”

“I looked it up, and it’s actor Kang Woo-jin, who also won the acting award at the ‘Mise-en-scène Film Festival’ this time.”

Most of the numerous citizens on the subway and buses were looking at things related to ‘Profiler Han Ryang’ on their cell phones. It didn’t matter whether they had watched the drama yesterday or not. It was inevitable. The story of ‘Profiler Han Ryang’ had already spread to many areas.

Search, blogs, cafes, articles, etc.

A tremendous level of mentions. Everyone had noticed. That this drama was going to be a real hit. It was the same principle as when demand increases, supply increases.

Later, around lunchtime.

-First episode viewership rating exceeds 20%, super hit drama ‘Profiler Han Ryang’ Episode 1 Review!!｜Nuclear Movie TV

‘Profiler Han Ryang’ videos were replacing the real-time rankings on YouTube. Regardless of whether it was an official video from the ‘Han Ryang’ team or an edited video from issue YouTubers, the views were skyrocketing.

Among them.

-[Special] A real scene-stealer! A collection of Park Dae-ri’s crazy scenes!!!｜Profiler Han Ryang

There was also a ‘Park Dae-ri’ compilation video that the ‘Han Ryang’ team had uploaded directly. It was short, but the comments were endless.

-He seemed like a rookie actor, but his acting was method… it was chilling

-No, look at his eyes at 3:14! I saw this in my dreams!

-I memorized Kang Woo-jin’s name haha I’m cheering for you

-lololol I’m shocked that this is actor Kang Woo-jin’s first drama lololol his acting was a carry

-Park Dae-ri’s facial expressions… were amazing…

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Of course, it wasn’t just online. Offline, the talk about ‘Profiler Han Ryang’ was heard in quite a few places.

“Wow- I heard the drama that Ryu Jung-min is in exceeded 20% in viewership ratings?”

“Ah! I watched that! It was fun even though I started from the middle! The actors’ acting is so good!”

Companies, cafes, restaurants, etc. It was similar wherever people could meet and talk. Thanks to that, the awareness of ‘Profiler Han Ryang’ became even more solid. Interest was boiling over.

In just one day. Of course, even at this moment.

-Ah… damn! When will it be 10 o’clock!!ㅠㅠㅠI want to watch it soonㅠㅜㅜㅠㅠ!

The word-of-mouth was spreading at the speed of light.

Night of the 16th.

The 16th, when ‘Profiler Han Ryang’ had swept the nation, was coming to an end. The time was around 9:30 PM. The world was still buzzing with ‘Profiler Han Ryang.’

Meanwhile, Kang Woo-jin was at his agency. That is, BW Entertainment.

He was sitting at the desk in the center of the CEO’s office. Woo-jin was a bit tired. He had spent a hectic day. Around him were Choi Sung-gun, Han Ye-jung, and Jang Su-hwan. In short, Kang Woo-jin’s team was gathered in one place.

It was a contrasting scene from yesterday’s dinner with a hundred people.

Of course, there was a TV turned on in the direction the four of them were looking. The channel was SBC. What else could it be? It was to watch the second episode of ‘Profiler Han Ryang’ together. Hong Hye-yeon was not there, probably because she had a schedule.

And.

“Woo-jin hyung-nim [term for older brother/male friend]! Fried? Seasoned?”

The burly Jang Su-hwan was setting up the chicken he had ordered on the desk. Thanks to that, the CEO’s office was filled with the smell of chicken. Soon, Kang Woo-jin, sharing a beer, replied solemnly.

“Fried.”

“Ah, ah! Hyung-nim, you’re a fried chicken person?!”

Han Ye-jung, who had tied up her bobbed hair, chimed in, as if she was planning to eat her fill.

“I’m seasoned. I like the sticky stuff.”

The expressionless Kang Woo-jin tilted his head inwardly.

‘Sticky stuff? She’s a bit of a unique character too. But seasoned is also delicious.’

Han Ye-jung, who had picked up a chicken wing, said to Kang Woo-jin as if something had come to mind.

“Ah, and oppa [term for older brother/male friend], I uploaded five photos to your SNS this afternoon. I just remembered because I was so busy.”

SNS? Ah, that’s right. Kang Woo-jin also remembered now. On the first day of ‘Profiler Han Ryang,’ when he was returning home, he had created an SNS account at Choi Sung-gun’s request.

‘It was the most basic of basics, right? But what photos did she upload?’

Kang Woo-jin, who had never used SNS in his entire life, asked Han Ye-jung in a low voice.

“What photos?”

“Well, oppa, you have a good figure. I told the PR team to upload some photos from the ‘Mise-en-scène Film Festival’ and some profile pictures. And one photo from the barbecue restaurant yesterday.”

At that moment.

“Oh! It’s starting!”

The second episode of ‘Profiler Han Ryang’ started on TV. Soon, the entire Kang Woo-jin team took sips of their beer and turned their attention to the TV. At the same time, Choi Sung-gun, with his ponytail, shouted.

“Park Dae-ri’s screen time increases a lot from the second episode, right?!”

It was true. Park Dae-ri’s true value was revealed from the second episode. Whatever the case, even the poker-faced Kang Woo-jin looked at the TV. Yoo Ji-hyung appeared in the first scene.

‘They said that if we get through today, tomorrow will be even more insane? Wow- damn.’

How much more of a mess would it be? Kang Woo-jin’s life yesterday and today was completely different. Tomorrow, that snowball would be several times bigger.

At this moment.

-Vroom.

Kang Woo-jin’s phone on the desk vibrated. A text had arrived. His phone had been ringing like crazy since yesterday, so Woo-jin tried to ignore it. Still, Kang Woo-jin checked it for a moment.

‘Huh? It’s Hong Hye-yeon-nim [formal term for Ms. Hong]?’

The sender of the text was Hong Hye-yeon. The content wasn’t very long.

-Hong Hye-yeon: Woo-jin-ssi, I just followed your SNS, did you know that you’ve gained a lot of followers?

Kang Woo-jin immediately tilted his head. It was because of unfamiliar words like ‘follow’ and ‘follower.’ Then, Woo-jin turned on the SNS that he had created for the first time two days ago. Soon, his account was visible to Woo-jin.

-@Wooji_n

Posts 5

Followers 31,000

Following 0

In just one day, 30,000 people had gathered.

End