* * *

“Cut! Okay!”

Inside the pojangmacha, I heard Director Byeon Juhwa’s cheerful okay sign drop.

‘Seo Eden’s acting is seriously insane.’

He couldn’t even be considered the same person as two months ago anymore.

At some point, Seo Eden had started showing acting and character interpretation better than most rookie actors. He was simply Jeon Segye himself.

“Puppyyyyy!”

A gigantic voice echoed from far away.

“Sunbae!”

It was Kwak Cheolsik, who had come to visit the filming set. But there was someone else beside him.

“Junseo sunbae? What brings you here?”

“...Am I not allowed to come? You told me to visit whenever you were accepting coffee trucks.”

“No, no. It’s just you didn’t say you were coming.”

“I did. You just didn’t read my messages.”

Apparently Joo Junseo had contacted me while I was changing clothes.

The moment the two of them arrived, the atmosphere on set instantly became noisy. Even passersby pulled out their phones to take pictures after spotting Joo Junseo.

“Once filming ends, we gotta all hang out sometime. Puppyyy, I still start and end every single day listening to your voice.”

“That’s extremely admirable.”

What he meant was that Kwak Cheolsik’s daughter still hadn’t escaped from <Funny Bunny Harmony>.

Because of children constantly replaying <Funny Bunny Harmony> from morning until evening, the OST was still steadily staying at the top of the music charts.

Last time he’d even sent me a photo of his daughter wrapped in a Lala knee blanket while posing like a flying squirrel. It had been unbearably cute.

Meanwhile, Joo Junseo quietly asked me something.

“Ahem... hey. Did that guy come to your set?”

“Who?”

“Your classmate.”

“Dami? Ah, she came last time.”

“Not her. The other one.”

Who else was there...?

“You mean Jeha?”

“Ahhhh, Myeong Jeha.”

Suddenly, Kwak Cheolsik smacked Joo Junseo on the back while laughing loudly. The old man had only come to rob the coffee truck and wasn’t even called over.

“He didn’t come.”

At those words, Joo Junseo smiled more brightly than I had ever seen before.

...Was he always capable of smiling that kindly? The clicking sounds around us aimed at Joo Junseo became much louder than before.

“He was originally supposed to come to my movie set.”

“Huh... when?”

“Well. A looong time ago when you were MCing MusicN Osaka.”

“Ah... back then....”

They’d made verbal promises all the way back then? The old man had been gentler with Joo Junseo than I thought. As expected, he was experienced. One moment he told him not to get close, but when he was nice, he was secretly very nice.

“I told him to come visit because we’d make a movie together later. But well....”

Joo Junseo shrugged.

I didn’t know they were that close.

“Is he not doing anything these days?”

“I don’t know. We haven’t really been in touch lately.”

Come to think of it, I really should contact him regularly.... Since it came up, I should message him later.

“Thank you for the coffee truck last time.”

At that moment, Seo Eden suddenly spoke to Joo Junseo.

“Ah... that’s good then. Worth choosing the same company from last shoot. Hey. It’s the same place you milked me dry with during 〈Youth Disqualified!〉.”

“No wonder the churros were so crispy.”

“Thanks to that, Yeoreum and I ate really well and gained strength while filming.”

Looks like Seo Eden wanted to get close to Joo Junseo too. He must’ve realized that Joo Junseo made really good cocoa once you got close to him.

“Back then Yeoreum even stole the churros I brought over.”

“Excuse me... stole? You had a shoot coming up, Eden, so I ate them for you.”

“...Then I’ll send another one before filming ends.”

See? Joo Junseo was really a good coffee truck button. Press it and one appears.

Just as Seo Eden was about to say something else, Beopsun spotted Kwak Cheolsik from afar and flew into a massive rage.

“Barkbarkbark!!!”

“Whoa, Beopsun!”

And at the same time—

Ding!

‘...Huh?’

「Mission Overseas Media」

Keyword: Hallyu

Success Condition

[Perfect! You have successfully uploaded 10,000 articles containing the phrase Han yeoleum! Your name is becoming widely known across multiple countries. At this rate, you might become an icon of the era?]

Reward

[Skill has increased]

Makes You Look Twice C >>> C+

[Skill has increased]

Perfect Match B >>> B+

[Lucky Points 10,000p] acquired

While listening to Beopsun barking furiously, I stared at the status window.

“Alright, we should get going. Puppyyy, work hard!”

“Well... do your best. Our movie schedule’s coming up soon anyway, so we’ll see each other then. Call me.”

Even as the two of them tried to leave, the only thing in my mind was the contents of the status window.

Just when had that many articles using my name been uploaded? That was insane.

‘Where?’

My heart pounded so violently I started feeling dizzy. I grabbed Seo Eden’s forearm beside me.

‘And the scene we’re filming right now... is literally a chemistry-carries-everything scene....’

But the skill leveled up? Perfect Match? I shook Seo Eden’s arm wildly.

“Ah! What do we do, seriously? We’re gonna match way too well now, aren’t we? Aaaah! The Name Couple buzz is already insane.”

“Yesyesyesyes?”

“...What?”

Joo Junseo’s expression changed completely as he turned around midway through leaving. Kwak Cheolsik quickly dragged him away while waving at me.

I swung my arm around energetically to say goodbye. Joo Junseo looked like he wanted to say something, but Kwak Cheolsik hauled him away. Beopsun, apparently convinced he’d won, wagged his tail proudly at Kwak Cheolsik.

‘This works. We’re winning everything.’

Seo Eden really was method acting as Jeon Segye too. Look at him stuttering even after the cameras stopped rolling.

Not only that, his slapstick acting had reached godlike territory over the past few weeks.

Method Seo Eden plus a chemistry skill added on top?

A dizzying thrill crawled up my spine and exploded all the way to the top of my head.

* * *

Unable to resist, I pulled out my phone. While filming <Dongdaemun Romance>, I’d loosened up on overseas monitoring a little, but where had my name spread so much during that time?

Thumpthumpthumpthump.

My heart felt like it was going to burst, so I’d taken off my GLX Watch. It had been warning me for a while now that my heart rate was dangerous.

[Search: Han yeoleum]

Starting with Intube, I found the result without difficulty.

INTUBE

[The voices of Lala in other countries]

Views: 34.56 million

The video had an impossible number of views.

And I was in it.

More precisely, Han Yeoreum’s Lala.

-Lala’s voice is truly lovely. I like the Korean one the most!

-I heard they cast an actress instead of a voice actor in Korea. Judging from her amazing performance, she seems incredible. :)

-The Korean Lala definitely invited a real living squirrel from somewhere..

↳ Exactly my thoughts. We need to investigate whether D즈니 has hidden squirrels underground!!!

In the video comparing Lala’s dubbing across countries, all the top comments were talking about Han yeoleum.

-If you’re interested in K-dramas, then it’s already a familiar face. She’s a really good actress. Watching a teen drama like ‘The Cherry on the Parfait Belongs to the Heroine!’ makes me want to go to Korea hahaha

↳ Wasn’t she Japanese?

↳ Absolutely not :( She’s Korean!!!

As I scrolled through the comments, I started seeing Korean comments too.

-Anyone who knew we already won the moment they saw Han Yeoreum hit like LMAO

↳ Me lolololol

↳ Recommend from someone whose daughter still suffers from Lala syndrome so hard I memorized all the lines T_T

Naturally, I hit like.

And beneath that, I found the reason my name had spread even further.

-Noah Williams personally mentioned her name, so of course people know. What incredible delivery.

↳ Noah Williams?? As in the Noah Williams I know???

It was Noah.

Being mentioned alongside the name of a genius with unrivaled prestige in the film industry made even people who weren’t particularly interested in <Funny Bunny Harmony> learn my name.

There were related videos too.

One was a compilation of Noah Williams’ OSTs over the years, and at the very end was his newest project, <Funny Bunny Harmony>.

Even there, my name was mentioned countless times.

The worldwide success of <Funny Bunny Harmony>, and statements made by the Hollywood master Noah Williams.

Those two things combined to make Han Yeoreum shine.

“Yeoreum! We’re going for the next shot!”

I lowered my phone and closed my eyes for a moment.

‘Who am I?’

Someone whose name spread before even entering Hollywood... someone who would absolutely reach that place one day.

‘Han Yeoreum.’

* * *

Chungmuro’s civil servant, Gong Mujin, focused intensely while replaying an Intube video.

Intube was open on his tablet, while a photo of Han Yeoreum was displayed on the phone beside it.

INTUBE

[I pray your ratings will do well ] 01:30

Views: 2,331

“What are you doing?”

“Praying Yeoreum succeeds... and while I’m at it, praying I succeed too....”

Director Gong trembled while listening to frequencies supposedly capable of raising ratings.

“Ahhh. I’m seriously dying from nerves.... You understand how I feel, right?”

“You filmed just fine in Macau, why are you acting like this again?”

“Director, could you maybe just leave? We’ll edit by ourselves.”

Director Gong muttered with a haggard face.

“If, if these ratings continue until the finale... ahhh.... Then with <Faster Than the Law> I’ll have to take responsibility.... But then if this flops too... what happens to Yeoreum’s filmography... what am I supposed to do....”

Clutching his stomach as if his ulcers were acting up, Director Gong collapsed onto the sofa.

Usually the editing team always reassured him whenever he spiraled into self-inflicted worries, but this time was different.

“Well....”

“Honestly....”

“Damn....”

They couldn’t help understanding him.

<There Is Only One Culprit> Episode 8 Ratings — 16.8%

〈Dear Judge〉 Episode 8 Ratings — 14.8%

<Tamhok> Episode 8 Ratings — 5.7%

And finally.

<Dongdaemun Romance> Episode 10 — 14.3%

“Right now the number one buzz ranking is <Tamhok>, right?”

“Even if its ratings are the lowest, in terms of buzz it’s definitely first.”

“So <Dongdaemun Romance> is dead last? Wow... honestly that’s hard to pull off too.”

<Dongdaemun Romance> was still a good production.

The story flow, lovable directing, actor chemistry. There wasn’t a single lacking element.

But the projects airing alongside it weren’t merely good.

After Episode 8 aired, praise exploded saying every genre had rewritten its own legend.

[HOT/ The Korean drama scene these days feels like the Warring States era.jpg]

(<Tamhok> Episode 8 highlights.jpg)

(〈Dear Judge〉 Episode 8 highlights.jpg)

(<There Is Only One Culprit> Episode 8 highlights.jpg)

(<Dongdaemun Romance> Episode 8 highlights.jpg)

Drama addicts are going insane all week trying every single drama...

-Anonymous 1: If you’re still following after 8 episodes it’s not “trying,” you’re fucking devouring them LMAOO

-Anonymous 4: Feels like the Korean drama industry’s entering a golden age that’ll never happen again..

↳ Anonymous 12: Same T_T this has literally never happened before so the dopamine is insane right now

-Anonymous 29: Woo Seungri seriously deserves an award, I never thought she’d even give us a poly ending TT_TT I’m sacrificing my entire real life watching this

↳ Anonymous 34: Seriously Yoo Jiuk’s dual role was an actual god-tier move too. Neither the male lead nor second male lead loses in visuals or feels lame so it’s even better..hehe

-Anonymous 49: Thought Do Gyeoul was possessed during the courtroom scene

-Anonymous 76: Whoever pitied Eun Baekhap before the drama started better show themselves, I’ve got a bat ready

↳ Anonymous 98: Feels like the start of the actress’s second act and I’m crying so hard. Unnie, it’s finally happened... we made it

↳ Anonymous 101: Slipping in “we” alongside Eun Baekhap there huh

Silence briefly descended over the <Faster Than the Law> editing room.

And right then—

Bzzzt.

“Uh?”

Director Gong froze after checking his vibrating phone.

“An email came!”

“What kind of email has you acting like that?”

“Noah...! Noah Williams!”

“What?”

Everyone erupted at the name Noah. Unable to withstand the pressure, Director Gong immediately opened the email Noah had sent on the PC. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

The files containing the theme tracks Noah had composed for <Faster Than the Law> made everyone’s hearts pound.

Click.

There were several music files sent by Noah Williams, but Gong Mujin opened the most important title track first.