ALL NOVEL Chapter 136
Jo Seo-hee felt great recently.
It was because Joo Seo-yeon, who seemed a little sulky before, now felt quite warm and friendly.
Ding!
“Could it be because we went to an upper-class party together?”
The exact reason was hard to tell.
But one thing was certain: her likability had definitely increased.
The frequency of their communications had risen, and at this rate, she might soon be able to use “informal speech” with her!
Cha-ching!
“I’m also making gradual progress with Lee Ji-yeon’s preparations.”
Honestly, Seo-hee didn’t have much interest in what Ji-yeon said.
At least, not at first.
She just thought of it as some weird avatar doing internet broadcasts.
Womp-womp!
“Turns out there’s market potential.”
After grasping the situation to some extent, that was the conclusion she reached.
“The biggest factor is that their faces aren’t exposed.”
For broadcasters, having their faces known is a given.
But this ‘Vtuber’ thing meant they wouldn’t have to face that.
In most cases, there wouldn’t be any identification, and if there was a controversy, it would end at the level of their ‘avatar’.
It wouldn’t deeply affect their personal life.
At least, that’s how it seemed to celebrity Jo Seo-hee.
Whoosh!
“…It’s relatively a less stressful place where one can receive the viewers’ attention, right?”
A broadcaster can’t exactly avoid stress.
But the idea of being able to hide their identity and communicate with viewers felt like a huge merit to Seo-hee.
Vtuber.
Avatar.
And the animated art style.
These elements seemed to bring nothing but good news for Seo-hee.
In fact, she felt pretty indifferent about it.
She just thought, “I guess this is how things work here.”
Boing!
“Actually, it’s kind of cute. It would be nice to make one pretty by spending money.”
That was the extent of Seo-hee’s feelings.
In truth, neither Ji-yeon nor Seo-hee’s crowd particularly cared about anime or Vtubers.
“It’s just like that, I guess.”
“Hey, Jo Seo-hee. Aren’t you spending a little too much money?”
Seeing Seo-hee diligently gathering market insights and fervently working on her avatar, Ji-yeon was taken aback.
She had recommended it thinking it seemed fun, but never expected her to be this passionate about it.
“It looks good as a side hustle on days without broadcasts.”
“Well, that’s true.”
There aren’t many avenues to comfortably communicate with viewers.
Of course, she’s hiding the fact that she’s ‘Actress Lee Ji-yeon’, but it’s a lot easier to subtly gauge public reaction.
For example, asking, “Hey, that OO drama was fun, did you see it?” gets immediate feedback.
Sure, the viewership demographics don’t overlap much, but it’s still possible to ask various questions.
And for entertainers, connecting with viewers fulfills something deep inside.
Thanks to Seo-yeon, discovering Vtubers has been a major comfort for Ji-yeon.
“I thought she’d care about it more.”
Seo-hee was preparing and discovering this and that much more than Ji-yeon had expected.
In fact, she felt like Seo-hee now knew more than she did.
While she had received help from the ‘wizard’, Seo-hee seemed to have dug up all kinds of information using her family’s resources.
“But this is what Seo-yeon likes, right?”
“…Seo-yeon?”
Ji-yeon looked puzzled by Seo-hee’s strange wording.
“Since the last party, we’ve been talking comfortably.”
“Just you?”
“…Only me, though.”
Hmph!
Crossing her arms, Seo-hee shot Ji-yeon a glare that seemed to question whether it really needed to be pointed out.
But then slowly lowered her gaze.
Seo-hee, who often heard others say she looked scary, thought Ji-yeon looked even scarier.
If Seo-hee’s appearance radiated a commanding aura, Ji-yeon’s made others fumble for cash.
Wham!
Girls like that tend to lead other girl gangs around.
Ji-yeon said otherwise, but it was still doubtful.
What if there were school bullying controversies?
“…You sometimes look at me in a really annoying way.”
“That must be a misunderstanding.”
Ha!
Speedy!
Seo-hee coughed awkwardly and looked away.
Anyway.
“These days feel good.”
She heard that Seo-yeon liked this Vtuber stuff.
If she shows a friendly face using ‘Ramiel’, Seo-yeon is sure to love it.
And Seo-hee had already watched Ramiel’s broadcasts several times.
Including a scene where a figure presumed to be Seo-yeon threw money around like there was no tomorrow.
Ramiel mostly kicked Seo-yeon out or would occasionally talk to her.
“I’m doing it too.”
Ji-yeon said she would guide Seo-yeon to watch Seo-hee’s broadcasts.
Then, wouldn’t it be possible for Seo-yeon to communicate with her like Ji-yeon?
In other words, Joo Seo-yeon becomes her fan!
Thinking of it that way, she felt oddly proud.
“If this goes on, we’ll be best friends in no time.”
Those were her thoughts these days.
“Ahem, ahem. So, Seo-yeon, shall we work hard on today’s shoot?”
Bam!
[Hyper Action Star].
Now was the final shoot to select actors to pass to Group A.
Once this was done, only the semi-finals and finals would remain.
So it was extremely important that she wasn’t planning any betrayals today.
No matter what, if she betrayed here, it wouldn’t just end with Seo-yeon getting sulky.
With that fresh thought, she greeted Seo-yeon.
“…….”
Joo Seo-yeon’s gaze was strangely piercing.
It felt like she was visually scanning Seo-hee up and down, suspiciously.
“Why, what’s up?”
Caught off guard, Seo-hee asked, and Seo-yeon shook her head.
Ding-dong!
“No matter how I think about it, it has to be Jo Seo-hee.”
Recently, the person most entwined with Ji-yeon was Seo-hee.
It was unavoidable to feel suspicious.
Of course, there were thoughts about why Seo-hee would want to become a Vtuber.
But Seo-yeon’s instincts pointed to Seo-hee.
Her instincts were quite accurate, after all.
“Hmm.”
When, exactly, had Ji-yeon gotten close with her?
This was a pretty complicated feeling.
It wasn’t like Seo-yeon felt any particular way about Ji-yeon making friends.
She had always been someone who made friends easily.
But becoming a friend of Ramiel was a whole different matter.
“That’s too much.”
Seo-yeon’s hands began to tremble.
She had been watching since Ramiel’s early days.
She had communicated earnestly and liked her for longer!
So suddenly, here was Seo-hee confidently taking the spot next to her, making her hands and feet tremble and her eyes flood with jealousy and various emotions was only natural.
Of course, if Ji-yeon found out, she would probably freak out, but who would think that a friend would become this obsessed with ‘Ramiel’?
Separately from that.
“The number of Vtuber friends has increased.”
That was a part she liked.
If Seo-hee really was that silhouette.
If she genuinely had interest in Vtubers and was engaging with Ji-yeon.
Then wouldn’t they be able to have conversations about that?
Of course, she wasn’t talking about Seo-hee’s ‘avatar’.
But rather, conversations on a more personal level.
With Ji-yeon, she actually couldn’t have that kind of talk.
She tended to differentiate Ramiel and Ji-yeon as entirely different individuals.
However, it seemed highly probable that Seo-hee would be the first to bring it up.
Even if it’s not about avatars, maybe in other directions.
Then naturally, wouldn’t they talk about that?
That was a part she was somewhat looking forward to.
But aside from that.
“Today’s last preliminary mission is a large-scale fight scene.”
Seo-yeon liked today’s final mission in [Hyper Action Star] very much.
Aside from liking it, there was still a blazing fire burning in her heart.
“Why, why are you looking at me?”
Hearing “fight scene” made Seo-hee tense up and look at Seo-yeon.
For some reason, Seo-yeon glancing at her felt quite ominous.
And then.
– Does Joo Seo-yeon have any grudge against Jo Seo-hee?
– If you betrayed twice, you should be punished!
– Seo-hee acts well.
– ??? Acting??? Is that even acting??
– Seo-hee isn’t moving; is she dead?
– Seo-hee’s getting wrecked! ㅜㅜㅜ
In any case, as if avenging all the betrayals until now, Jo Seo-hee was rolled around.
She rolled around quite energetically.
And since Seo-hee also ‘accepted’ things well enough, it led to quite a convincing scene.
Although she wasn’t entirely sure if it was intentional or not.
“Then, I will announce the final qualifiers for the preliminary round.”
Round of 16.
Not just in action but also proving their acting skills, these were the first to step into the Round of 16.
Min Do-ha let out a sigh of relief as she awaited Cha Min-kyu’s announcement.
‘It’s finally over.’
Strangely enough, Seo-yeon wasn’t chasing after her today.
So she could approach the shoot with a relatively relaxed mind.
Yeah, this feels like filming.
What she had been doing all this while wasn’t filming or acting; it was real.
Everyone was yammering about methods and stuff, but that was all nonsense.
Min Do-ha had really run away to live.
To survive against that monstrous girl.
But now, that monstrous girl.
Was saying goodbye to Joo Seo-yeon.
‘Seems like today, it was relatively boring.’
She thought she hadn’t made the same impact she had when being chased by Joo Seo-yeon.
‘Yeah, this is about it.’
Through this audition, Min Do-ha felt her limits.
Simply being good at physical tasks and doing a bit of acting wasn’t enough.
There were plenty of actors who could do that.
She couldn’t even find someone like Jo Seo-hee who could do intelligent acting or someone like Han So-yu who could make herself shine.
Just plain and ordinary.
Would her name even be mentioned if Seo-yeon weren’t in the picture?
‘So, I guess this is where I belong.’
Min Do-ha muttered to herself again as she looked at Cha Min-kyu.
To see who the final qualifiers for the Round of 16 were.
“Joo Seo-yeon, Jo Seo-hee, Min Do-ha, and Han So-yu.”
“?”
“That’s right, these four! Congratulations!”
Simultaneously, applause erupted from all around.
Applause congratulating the qualifiers.
Or applause for those who didn’t make it.
But nobody thought it was unfair that those four were the ones advancing.
Everyone accepted it.
“Do-ha, congratulations.”
“That was truly an amazing performance. I learned a lot.”
Actors who had paired up with Do-ha during the last mission sent congratulatory applause her way.
Of course, Min Do-ha felt like she might cry.
In many ways.
*
KMB Broadcasting Company.
Drama Department Conference Room.
Several PDs gathered to discuss the upcoming broadcasting schedule and programming allocations.
Which show to squeeze into prime time?
And how to adapt to viewers’ newly changed preferences regarding releases.
“Let’s settle this first.”
With a smile, Baek Tae-soo PD spoke up.
He had previously backed Writer Lim Jin-ha on [Dream Future].
Now, he quietly looked at Lee Min-hwa PD, who was in charge of [Sky Garden], and began to speak.
“What do you think of [Sky Garden]?”
“Well…”
Other PDs momentarily fumbled over Baek Tae-soo’s words.
If Ha Tae-oh, the drama department head, had been present, he would have said, “It’s good.”
However, Ha Tae-oh was absent from today’s meeting.
To put it more accurately, he couldn’t attend.
Due to some personal matter that he had to deal with.
Of course, it was something that would be reported to him afterward, but still.
Anyway, because of that, Baek Tae-soo PD was able to speak with more confidence.
His influence in KMB was sizable, and there were very few who had a comparable standing.
Effectively aiming for the next drama department head position.
So, the PDs had no choice but to pick up on his cues.
“Honestly, there are quite a few concerning aspects.”
“Right.”
Baek Tae-soo PD looked again at Lee Min-hwa PD.
Because of that, Lee Min-hwa’s brow furrowed slightly.
Seemingly enjoying it, Baek Tae-soo PD softly snickered.
“We’ve got some excellent actors involved. We’ve pulled in many of the most talked-about actors recently. For example… Joo Seo-yeon and others.”
Just two projects in.
Yet she had made quite an impression as a young actress.
One of the actors the market had been paying attention to.
Adding to that, the second [Youth Drama] following [Dream Future].
“Well, calling it a ‘youth drama’ is somewhat misleading. It’s really a satire on society.”
Baek Tae-soo PD was not just disparaging [Sky Garden].
In fact, even other PDs had clear expressions of anxiety.
“It was originally a script meant for a cable network, right?”
“…Yes.”
“Naturally, the lack of romance is a problem.”
Not just lacking, it was nonexistent.
That presented a major issue for network broadcasts.
At least that’s how those at the higher echelons felt.
“The writer for this script is essentially making their debut. Of course, I think it’s commendable how they filled in for Writer Lim Jin-ha in [Dream Future]. I believe they’ll achieve remarkable success in the future.”
But.
“That doesn’t guarantee this piece will succeed.”
The risks associated with a debut work are substantial.
However, [Sky Garden] couldn’t be undervalued just for that.
The caliber of the cast was very high.
“Will romance be incorporated?”
“They said that’s absolutely not going to happen.”
“Hmm…”
“Fortunately, there are quite a few decent options aside from [Sky Garden].”
“But from what I gather, the department head seems to favor [Sky Garden].”
“Already, the director’s opinions have been reflected considerably. But again, this is a different matter…”
The PDs said that while keeping a cautious eye on Baek Tae-soo PD.
Currently, there were three dramas being heavily pushed by KMB.
One was [Sky Garden].
But for higher-ups, they considered it a risky gamble.
The other two.
One was a drama directly managed by Baek Tae-soo PD.
As for the actors, they had a writer who continuously produced hit dramas, Kim Myung-yeon.
That meant a story boosted by romance, likely to appeal to the higher-ups.
“What do you think? Which drama should we focus on?”
Baek Tae-soo PD’s words weighed heavily on the KMB drama department conference room.