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Chapter 251: Whatever the Opponent Does (1)

I gestured the number 3.2 with my fingers to the team members, who were holding their hungry stomachs.

At that moment, the entire team covered their mouths and cheered silently.

Then Yoo Hyun-Ji\'s voice tinged with cuteness came through the phone.

-So, Team Lead Jung~.

Her usually sharp voice suddenly sounded so different that it almost gave me chills.

-You don\'t have your next project lined up for Haru yet, do you?

"Next project?"

-Yes. I have something in mind after this drama...

\'No way, is she planning to do...that?\' I wondered.

I quickly removed my phone from my ear and checked my planner.

[Everyday V10.1]

[Date: November 2, 2020]

- 09:50 p.m. TVM Hell Pocha Episode 1 Rating 3.2%

[Date: November 24, 2020]

- 09:50 p.m. TVM Hell Pocha Episode 8 Rating 0.5% (Report: Early Termination)

Yoo Hyun-Ji\'s next project would be Hell Pocha.

It was about ghosts and spirits living among humans who asked the pocha owner to resolve their grudges, with the help of the main character and their assistant.

Though the episodes were good and innovative, the problem was the computer graphics. Creating various ghosts and spirits with a limited budget resulted in terrible computer graphics quality.

As such, it received many criticisms, with some even saying that they were better off using actors in costumes. Needless to say, the drama ended early in just eight episodes with the worst viewership ratings.

Nevertheless, Yoo Hyun-Ji, who was unaware of her future, spoke excitedly.

-I\'ve been planning this project for three years, and there\'s a character that\'s perfect for Haru. I\'ll increase the appearance fee to 5 million won. What do you think? Isn\'t it tempting?

Haru\'s appearance fee was originally 2.5 million won per episode, but it had suddenly doubled. Still, I couldn\'t just jump on the soon-to-flop Hell Pocha.

"The first episode of the drama just aired, so I\'m afraid it might be a bit too early to discuss the next project. I\'m sorry, Ms. Yoo."

I cautiously turned her down, but Yoo Hyun-Ji didn\'t seem willing to let it go.

-Isn\'t the appearance fee satisfactory? 5 million won per episode is a real effort, you know!

This would be a tough decision even if she offered 10 million won per episode. Nonetheless, Yoo Hyun-Ji was still trying to negotiate with me.

Just as I was about to refuse again, I heard another voice.

-PD Yoo. Hold on, give me the phone.

-Yes, Mr. Jo.

It was Director Jo Eung-Cheon, one of the real power players at TVM.

-Today\'s broadcast received an unexpectedly good response. Congratulations.

"It\'s all thanks to your care, Mr. Jo," I replied.

Jo Eung-Cheon continued to sing praises of the drama and Haru, saying he had watched the first episode with Yoo Hyun-Ji in the control room.

-By the way, you haven\'t forgotten that I helped cast Haru, have you?

"Of course not."

-Then why don\'t you help me out this time? Let\'s have Haru appear in PD Yoo\'s next project. In return, I\'ll get you an advertisement with CK Inc.\'s food subsidiary that\'s to be broadcast during primetime.

CK Inc., TVM\'s parent company, was South Korea\'s top media and food company. Because of this, TVM often did business with other companies under CK Inc. For instance, the main sponsor of Master of Mukbang was CK Foods. So, it made sense that Jo Eung-Cheon offered to have Haru cast in an advertisement for CK\'s food subsidiary in exchange for having Haru appear in Hell Pocha.

Nevertheless, I couldn\'t let Haru appear in the early-terminated Hell Pocha no matter what.

"I\'m sorry, but it\'s still too early to make a decision."

Jo Eung-Cheon pressed me with a displeased tone.

-That kind of talk makes me a bit disappointed. Anyway, think it over carefully by tomorrow. Opportunities like this don\'t come around often, you know!

Jo Eung-Cheon raised his voice toward the end and then hung up.

Click.

"Phew~"

When I let out a sigh and glanced sideways, I saw members of Team Jung with surprised eyes. Although it wasn\'t on speakerphone, Jo Eung-Cheon\'s voice was loud enough for everyone to hear.

Lee Yung-Jin asked with a worried expression. "M-Mr. Jung, he\'s a director at TVM... Don\'t you think it was too much to draw the line so clearly?"

"Check the social media reactions to see why I did that. I bet this drama is viral right now," I answered.

Only then did the team members start looking the drama up on their phones.

(Real-Time Reactions)

-I just reheated my leftover soybean paste stew and finished a bowl of rice in no time. It was so delicious!

-Tonight\'s dinner has to be Baekban Jeongsik. Let\'s go!

-Does anyone know the location of the restaurant Haru ate at?

-I think the filming location is Donamdong Grandma\'s Tasty Baekban. The food there is amazing. But what Haru made looks even better.

-I\'m gonna watch episode 2 live tomorrow for sure! Wow, just thinking about it again makes my mouth water.

On social media, many people posted that they enjoyed Baekban Jeongsik or soybean paste stew for dinner after watching the drama.

"Huh?"

"The reactions are pretty good... aren\'t they?"

"No, it\'s not just pretty good, it\'s a huge hit."

I told the surprised employees looking at social media reactions.

"Even if the president of a broadcast station calls to make an offer, politely reject it if you don\'t think it\'s good enough. Always remember it\'s our actors who suffer if we get caught up by the producer!"

The team members nodded. "Yes, Mr. Jung!"

"Then let\'s go eat!"

However, when we arrived at the Baekban Jeongsik restaurant in front of the office, the line was 50 meters long.

The usually unpopular Baekban Jeongsik restaurant, which rarely filled half its seats, was packed.

Lee Yung-Jin looked at me with an awkward expression. "Mr. Jung, where should we eat...?"

Since standing in line would make me faint from low blood sugar, we searched for restaurants nearby, but all the usually empty set meal restaurants were full. Moreover, everyone had their phones out while watching something.

At that moment, Lee Yung-Jin suddenly checked his phone while glued to a Baekban Jeongsik restaurant\'s window.

"Mr. Jung, people are watching the rerun of Master of Mukbang!"

"Yung-Jin, you\'re scaring people. Get your face off the window!"

Lee Yung-Jin belatedly realized what he was doing and quickly took his face off the window.

He apologized to the office workers staring at him, "Oh, I\'m sorry~."

After looking around more, we still couldn\'t find a set meal restaurant to enter.

"Should we just have Japanese or Western food?" I asked.

The team members shook their heads.

"No way! Today, we must eat Korean food no matter what!"

Seeing Do Ran-Hee\'s determined eyes, I found a compromise.

"Then there\'s no choice. Let\'s go to Myeongnyun Satto Galbi for dinner. They serve soybean paste stew and side dishes there too."

"Myeongpum Hanwoo has good stew and side dishes too..."

I ignored Do Ran-Hee\'s mumbling and walked on.

Our challenge in finding a Baekban Jeongsik restaurant that was not full proved that Haru\'s first Master of Mukbang broadcast was a huge success.

***

[Master of Mukbang rookie actor Haru\'s one-man show. A home-cooked healing meal.]

[The Baekban Jeongsik restaurant filled nationwide by a mukbang craze.]

[Master of Mukbang Episode 1 viewership rating. 3.2%, cable\'s number one in the same time slot.]

The reactions to yesterday\'s broadcast filled the entertainment news pages.

Pictures of people lining up in front of Baekban Jeongsik restaurants and comments asking about the location of the restaurant from Episode 1 filled the comment section.

The menu in Episode 2 that would be aired shortly was braised short ribs.

After continuous days of overtime, I finally got off work early so I could watch Master of Mukbang with my family today.

While Miso and I were setting up the table in the living room, Haru and Yoo-Jin helped Jung In-Ji cook braised short ribs.

Pssst!

As the pressure cooker made a loud noise and white steam spurted out, a sweet and savory smell wafted into the living room.

"Uncle Yoon-Ho! It smells amazing!" Miso exclaimed.

I nodded and smiled. "It really does, doesn\'t it?"

Miso stuck close to me and tapped the table with chopsticks.

"Mom! Grandma! Haru oppa! Hurry up! Hurry! It\'s starting now!"

At Miso\'s energetic shout, the three people in the kitchen ran to the living room.

"Oh my! Has it already started?"

"Yes. It looks like it\'s about to start any time now. Please take your seats."

As Jung In-Ji, Yoo-Jin, and Haru sat at the table, the broadcast of episode 2 of Master of Mukbang began.

The dish Haru was going to be making in episode 2 was old-fashioned braised short ribs with lots of fat.

Since Master of Mukbang involved first tasting food at a famous restaurant and then recreating it in Haru\'s studio, episode 2 started with a mukbang at Sinsa-dong Original Braised Ribs. It showed Haru in the restaurant, and he had been served braised short ribs soaked in the flavors of soy sauce and sugar with the beef fat turned into a soft gelatin-like texture.

While watching the episode, Jung In-Ji exclaimed in admiration, "You don\'t see braised ribs made like that often these days! They found a good restaurant."

"Yes. It was in the back alley of Sinsa-dong. Apparently, it\'s done the old-fashioned way," I explained.

"We should go there soon~"

"There\'s no need for that. Haru will replicate it for us at home."

"Really~?"

At that moment, everyone looked expectantly at the braised short ribs in the pressure cooker.

Meanwhile, the TV screen showed that the mukbang at Sinsa-dong Original Braised Ribs had ended, and the scene switched to Haru\'s studio apartment.

The recipe for the dish appeared on the screen. Then Haru was shown heading to the kitchen to prepare the ingredients while donning an apron.

A close-up shot of Haru\'s face showed beads of sweat on his forehead and temples. The camera zoomed in so close that even the fine hairs on his face were visible.

The Haru in reality kept looking away from the TV. It seemed he wasn\'t used to seeing his face fill the screen.

"Haru, are you shy?" I asked.

"Yes... It feels a bit embarrassing," Haru replied bashfully.

"I understand. However, you must monitor your performance. The audience will judge you based on what they see on TV, not how you acted on set," I advised him.

The audience could not see how an actor performed on set, so they could only judge the actor based on the edited version that the PD showed them. For this reason, actors had to monitor their screen time so that they could understand the audience\'s perspective. Of course, it was also a crucial task for talent agents as well.

Haru nodded. "Got it, hyung. And... thank you."

"Why are you thanking me? I\'m just doing my job," I said with a smile.

In the meantime, the Haru on TV had finished cooking. He placed the dark brown braised ribs in a porcelain dish along with carrots, radishes, and green onions, making it look appetizing. Haru wiped the sweat off his forehead and began the mukbang with a happy expression.

Seeing the tender strands of beef get pulled apart, Miso started drooling. I dabbed her mouth with a napkin to clean it, but Miso couldn\'t take her eyes off the TV.

"Wow~ It looks delicious," Miso said longingly.

I kept hearing the sounds of Yoo-Jin and Jung In-Ji swallowing beside me, so I asked quietly, "Shall we eat now?"

At that moment, Miso looked at me for the first time since the drama started.

She shook her head with a mouthful of saliva and said, "No, it\'s okay."

Growl.

"Are you sure you\'re not hungry?"

"Yes! I\'m fine!" Miso insisted as she clutched her stomach.

Her stomach kept growling, signaling her hunger. However, she endured it with superhuman patience.

As soon as the drama ended, we were all unable to hold back anymore.

We shouted in unison, "Let\'s eat!"

***

[Master of Mukbang Episode 2 features old-fashioned braised ribs!]

[Master of Mukbang Episode 2 viewership rating: 4.1%!]

[Public Home Shopping! Braised rib orders surge! Website server down.]

[Haru, the star of Master of Mukbang. A rising star?]

For two days, Haru\'s mukbang had social media on fire.

There were countless posts showing people enjoying braised ribs as well as a 100-meter-long line in front of the restaurant Haru had visited.

Some famous MeTubers reviewed similar restaurants, creating a huge buzz.

Haru was doing well, MeTubers were thriving, and the local economy was booming. It was a win-win-win situation.

The third episode hadn\'t even aired yet, but the response was explosive.

At that moment, I received an urgent call from Jo Eung-Cheon, the TVM director who had pressured me so much yesterday.

-Team Lead Jung, I might have been too hasty yesterday... You understand, right?

One characteristic of people working in the broadcasting industry was how their attitude toward a celebrity would flip the moment the celebrity became popular.

Unlike yesterday, Jo Eung-Cheon was now offering to cast Haru in an advertisement without the condition of having him appear in Hell Pocha.

-Also, regarding what we discussed yesterday... Ms. Yang Eun-Jung, the publicity director at CK Foods, wants to use Haru as a model. What do you think?

Yang Eun-Jung, the publicity director at CK Foods, a sister company of TVM, would be promoted to executive director within a few years. I had to meet her no matter what.

Nonetheless, I scheduled the meeting as late as possible.

"Mr. Jo, how about next weekend?"

-Next weekend?

"Yes."

-Are you planning to wait until after the third and fourth episodes air? Wait a minute. Are you trying to negotiate a higher endorsement fee?

Jo Eung-Cheon understood my intention right away.

-Heh. This young man is quite shrewd, isn\'t he?

I didn\'t answer and quietly waited for his response.

-Alright. I\'ll set the meeting date for next weekend.

Only two episodes had been broadcast so far, but the broadcasting station had a totally different attitude toward Haru now.

Everyone was staring at me when I hung up the call.

"Can a person\'s attitude really change this much in just one day?"

"Wow, Mr. Jo Eung-Cheon seems like a totally different person. He was so arrogant yesterday and now he\'s all accommodating."

I shrugged and replied, "Didn\'t you know this industry works like this? If you\'re popular, most problems get resolved."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

However, something happened.

Lee Yung-Jin, who was checking entertainment news, shouted urgently, "Mr. Jung! Look at this."

[Festival of Money Preview, Episode 3. So Yi-Yung\'s Bold Exposure!]

Having been completely defeated in the first week\'s viewership ratings war by In the Name of God, the competitor was making a drastic move.