I Want to Be a VTuber

“Did the meeting go well?”

In the Drama Department director’s office.

Ha Tae-oh, just settling into his chair, turned to PD Lee Min-hwa and asked, his face radiating dissatisfaction.

It was easy to guess that something had gone awry during the meeting.

“I hear PD Baek Tae-soo really pushed to promote his drama a lot.”

“…Yes.”

Was it just promotion? He practically forced his way to have his drama assigned to prime time! Other PDs were cautiously eyeing Baek Tae-soo, making Lee Min-hwa want to scream.

Of course, Sky Garden was indeed a challenging drama for public broadcasting. But they had thoroughly prepared and had solid plans to overcome weaknesses.

“Fortunately, not everything was decided on the spot, but it looks like we will have to share.”

Monday-Tuesday drama, Wednesday-Thursday drama.

The chances were high they would be divided this way, and even at the meeting, Baek Tae-soo was stubbornly trying to place Sky Garden in an ambiguous time slot.

Naturally, since PD Lee Min-hwa opposed it, it didn’t go that far…

“These days, PD Baek Tae-soo has been particularly aggressive.”

Lee Min-hwa sighed.

In her expression, Ha Tae-oh quietly observed her.

Recently, Baek Tae-soo had become more assertive than ever. Previously, he preferred to operate cautiously from the shadows, working behind the scenes like a long-range chess piece.

A clear example was writer Im Jin-ha.

He was the type to pull strings from the back rather than step into the limelight.

But this attitude had changed recently.

He was stepping forward now, like a leader rallying a group.

Considering there was an actual Drama Department head, his demeanor was audacious enough to call it arrogance.

Thus, for Lee Min-hwa, yesterday’s events had been utterly perplexing.

If it were the usual Baek Tae-soo, he would have at least pretended to support Ha Tae-oh’s choice of Sky Garden.

“Yesterday, the vice president called for me.”

“Excuse me?”

At that moment, Ha Tae-oh, who had been quietly listening, spoke up.

He had heard he missed out due to personal matters, but could it be that he’d actually been summoned by the vice president?

“They say there will be an organizational restructuring at KMB soon.”

Organizational restructuring?

It was perplexing, but not entirely impossible.

While Dream Future had been performing quite well recently, KMB dramas had struggled until now.

“There will be several changes, but… the biggest change will be in the Drama Department.”

“That’s us, isn’t it?”

“Whether we like it or not, I suppose.”

Ha Tae-oh recalled the serious expression on the vice president’s face he had seen yesterday.

There had apparently been multiple objections, but the president had pressed the issue resolutely.

He could roughly guess the reason.

It was probably to gain the upper hand in the power struggle with the vice president.

“They say the Drama Department will be split into Departments 1 and 2.”

“What?!”

PD Lee Min-hwa exclaimed, surprise briefly making her cover her mouth.

They were going to split the Drama Department in two?

Why on earth?

“The president claims it’s to enhance competitiveness.”

They would create Department 1 and Department 2 to make them compete with each other.

Additionally, it would expand the Drama Department to prepare for upcoming OTT dramas and to strengthen its capabilities.

That was the gist of it.

“Could it be that PD Baek Tae-soo is becoming more assertive lately…”

“Since he is a strong candidate for the head of Department 2.”

Originally, PD Baek Tae-soo had been a strong candidate for the next head of the Drama Department.

He had results comparable to Ha Tae-oh and a similar background.

However, after effectively losing to Ha Tae-oh, he had no choice but to step back.

“Please don’t tell me that’s true?”

“I can’t say for certain, but…”

There was undeniable influence involved.

Currently, the KMB president had a close relationship with Baek Tae-soo.

Seoul Baekcheong University.

It was an alumni connection.

It was a tightly connected network.

PD Baek Tae-soo belonged to the line of President Hwang Jeong-hwan, and Ha Tae-oh was effectively in the same line as the vice president.

He wasn’t particularly interested in office politics, but it had somehow turned out that way.

“Splitting the Drama Department… won’t it be problematic?”

“At least, it doesn’t seem like it will yield good press. Anyway, it would be best to prepare for various aspects ahead.”

Ha Tae-oh smiled wryly as he spoke.

Honestly, he knew this situation was not good.

It wasn’t just because of Baek Tae-soo.

The problem was the loss of manpower caused by splitting the Drama Department.

“There’s no need to worry about Sky Garden. We can’t lose the first battle before we even start.”

At his words, Lee Min-hwa nodded.

“That’s why.”

Even if they invested all their power, they had to boost Sky Garden; Baek Tae-soo had also been strengthening the drama he was in charge of.

And it wasn’t just Baek Tae-soo; there were quite a few dramas in the pipeline that were getting significant promotion.

Now it made sense why.

They were trying to help bolster the newly created Department 2.

“He was probably trying to steal the prime time slot.”

Lee Min-hwa ground her teeth.

Now that she had grasped how the situation was unfolding, there was no way she would give up.

Moreover, she was extremely confident in this drama, Sky Garden.

Her trust was doubled when she saw the script reading.

Joo Seo-yeon.

When it came to acting talent, she had no rivals among her peers.

In general, media assessments of young actors were harsh.

Even actors who were now well-established in their acting careers were often criticized for having subpar performances back in their youth.

But Seo-yeon was different.

“Now that I think about it, there are quite a few outstanding young actors lately.”

Notably Jo Seo-hee and Park Jung-woo.

And even among the rising stars, at least three names came to mind.

But the one that stood out the most was undoubtedly Joo Seo-yeon.

During this script reading, even middle-aged actors couldn’t hold back their praises.

However…

“It seems she’s struggling to fully grasp her character.”

“If she gets that down, she will definitely improve.”

Lee Min-hwa overheard such comments.

She hadn’t personally noticed any issues, but apparently, the actors had.

“The protagonist is the most important in any drama.”

But Lee Min-hwa wasn’t worried.

Seo-yeon would surely overcome that issue in one go.

“Baek Tae-soo…”

She had no intent of losing to that irritating guy.

And meanwhile…

At the core of Sky Garden, Joo Seo-yeon was currently…

“Seo-yeon, are you not attending class?”

“…”

She was getting verbally smacked by her class president, Gil Da-hyun.

*

As any high school student knows, there’s something one cannot escape.

Even Seo-yeon, as an actress, couldn’t escape this either.

Exams!!

To be honest, exams weren’t something Seo-yeon stressed much about.

Since entering high school, she had been mostly breezing through.

Her mother, Suah, had a laid-back philosophy of “just grow up healthy,” so she had never really been scolded for it.

Originally, to Seo-yeon, exams were merely a side note.

She thought like that, but…

Ahem! Ahem!

“…Why are you laughing?”

“What? Is it not meant to make you laugh?”

Seo-yeon confiscated her report card and graphics card from Young-bin, who was laughing at it.

Anyway, this sparked her determination.

“I’ll be in the top 30 for this exam… not quite the top 10, but in the top 30.”

Seo-yeon told Ji-yeon.

How did Ji-yeon respond?

“Ah, yeah, sure. Joo Seo-yeon. You can do it.”

Her response was merely a robotic nod of encouragement, a level of support that sounded like she was thinking, “Oh, she’s just rambling again.”

That’s rough.

Honestly, Seo-yeon was focusing on the upcoming exam not just because of Young-bin’s mockery.

It was all for her role as ‘Lee Yoo-joo’ in Sky Garden.

Plus, it was also about managing her own image.

“That’s true.”

Lee Ji-yeon said with a serious expression.

“If it comes out, it’ll be a hot topic, good or bad. Plus, she’s the smartest and most studious character in the drama!”

Lee Yoo-joo not only held her brother’s portfolio but was also a near-genius herself.

In the narrative, Yoo-joo was a prodigy who never placed lower than first.

If she acted that role, there was no doubt people would take an interest in Seo-yeon.

“Eventually, articles like ‘Seo-yeon, who played the honor student in Sky Garden, scored low on mock exams…’ might come out.”

“…Seriously?”

“I can’t deny that.”

The tenacity of journalists knows no bounds.

Especially when it concerns scandals.

“And there are competitors, too. They might leak a slanderous article.”

Lee Ji-yeon had been in the entertainment industry far longer than Seo-yeon.

Having seen all sorts of mess, she found it hard to outright dismiss any possibility.

“So, it’s not a bad idea to be a bit more diligent. Just for your image management.”

Not just the journalists, mat even at school, there would be those who take more notice of her.

Especially since, on the surface, Seo-yeon had the image of being academically talented.

Looking at her, she appeared quite smart indeed.

“Word around your class is that…”

“Word?”

“That the second-lowest in class is a mystery?”

“….”

“It seems rumors are swirling around about who it could be.”

Like a ghost story.

At that remark from Ji-yeon, Seo-yeon flinched.

Class rankings weren’t publicly disclosed.

Because of that, they could only inquire among one another to find out, leading to the speculation that the one right before the very last spot had a shadow hanging over them.

“No one thinks it’s you, though.”

“Not me.”

“Yeah, okay.”

Ji-yeon didn’t believe her.

But Seo-yeon was indignant.

She truly wasn’t that poor an academic performer!

‘Why is my memory sharp only for shows related to the entertainment industry?’

In any case, the previous Seo-yeon had performed decently in her studies.

Scores good enough to narrowly miss out on attending a Seoul school.

So if she recalled that memory, she could pull decent grades without actually studying at all.

Especially since Yeonhwa High School wasn’t even a top-tier institution, it was an arts-focused high school.

‘I was alright until middle school, but high school memories? Absolutely blank!’

Honestly, she had slackened down.

Really.

In any case, that scenario left Seo-yeon determined to restore her reputation.

“Me? Busy.”

“Huh?”

“Anyway, auditions are just around the corner.”

“Ah.”

And Lee Ji-yeon was an honor student.

She’d never once been lower than a 5th place ranking throughout her time in school.

‘Shouldn’t Ji-yeon have been in Sky Garden instead?’

She was one of those rare entertainers who was smart.

Accepting that, Seo-yeon thought about reaching out to Jo Seo-hee… but she felt oddly miffed at the idea.

Moreover, Seo-yeon was still a bit sulky.

There was also the Vtuber issue, so she’d be sulking a little longer.

So she chose a different route.

“Hey, wanna study together?”

“Huh?”

With that sudden proposition, Gil Da-hyun froze.

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