Descent of the Demon Master

, isn ’t he?”

Jeong Seok-Su ’s hollow laughter seemed to perfectly encapsulate what the PR team was feeling at that moment.

***

PD Jang Hak-Seon asked triumphantly, “So? What did they say?”

“Sir! Their phone lines are paralyzed right now! They say they are getting crushed by the deluge of inquiries!”

“I thought so!” Jang Hak-Seon grinned in satisfaction while glancing at his phone ’s screen.
“And look at all these reactions online! Yes, this is what I ’m talking about!”

Although it was rather unfortunate that the first episode ’s rating fell slightly short of expectations, this result was a necessary sacrifice.
The first episode ’s focus had been shifted to Kang Jin-Ho, after all.
And that meant there wasn ’t enough non-spoiler material to promote the upcoming show.

Besides, holding back Kang Jin-Ho ’s scene and letting the viewers spread the truth via word-of-mouth was more beneficial to the show in the long run.

“PD Jang! We just got asked if that actor is signed up with anyone!”

“Tell them that he isn ’t contracted with anyone,” Jang Hak-Seon replied nonchalantly.

“Sir, I already did! But they retorted with, which actor under the sun doesn ’t have an agency behind them?!”

“Hah.
Then, tell them that they have found one,” Jang Hak-Seon replied with an even bigger grin etched on his face.

“Sir, will it really become a huge deal as you believe?”

“Can ’t you tell that yourself after witnessing the reactions? Even though I filmed that scene, I still couldn ’t quite believe my eyes.
So, it has to be even crazier for the viewers at home.
I ’m telling you, that scene will become one of the most talked about in Korean TV history!” Jang Hak-Seon guffawed loudly.

“Sir, should we reveal that the actor was Miss Kang Se-Ah ’s older brother?”

“Sure, why not? However, reporters with keen eyes would have definitely figured it out by now.
Before articles start popping up online, why don ’t you throw some bones to the reporters you ’re friendly with? Don ’t forget to tell them to package things nicely, too.”

“Yes, sir! Understood!” The assistant director hurriedly rushed outside the editing room.

’

Jang Hak-Seon leaned back on his chair with a content face, then tapped on his phone to scroll through a popular social media site.

= My honest impression of the first episode of ’Love Will Still Come Around ’…
Can ’t remember jack about the show ’s premise or whatever.
But I can ’t stop thinking about the face of Choi Yeon-Ha ’s boyfriend.
Seriously now! When is the rerun time slot?

= We should be seeing a deluge of articles by now about that historical event, so where are they? I wanna see the episode again just to figure out what I saw earlier, you know…
C ’mon, get to work, you reporters!

= Maybe the TV network hasn ’t released any PR material yet?

= I just heard.
The rerun ’s on one in the morning later today.
Definitely catch the rerun!

= Are you saying that show was really that amazing?

= No.
Can ’t remember if it were amazing or not, but…
In any case, you gotta catch the rerun no matter what.
Watch it, and you ’ll see for yourself.
I seriously thought that American actor, DiCaprio, made a cameo or something.

= Eh? Stop exaggerating.
How dare you mention someone of that caliber here?

= Sure sure, fam.
Just go and watch it.
Then let ’s talk after.

“Mm.
No, not yet.” Jang Hak-Seon did his absolute best to suppress the urge to unleash the press release into the world right at this moment.
Obviously, he had already selected the best cut out of them all, but such a still shot should only be released after things had reached the boiling point.
Only then would his actions reap the full reward.
Indeed, it was never a good idea to release the best stuff to the masses without a carefully-crafted plan!

“Aigoo~, I wonder.
Did our wonderful Mister Kang Jin-Ho have fun watching the first episode?” Jang Hak-Seon chuckled.

Judging from Kang Jin-Ho ’s personality, he didn ’t seem to be the type to watch a TV show like that, but he probably wouldn ’t have a choice this time.
Without a doubt, people around him should raise one hell of a fuss about this, after all!

“Man, what a pity…”

The bigger the happiness, the stronger the bitterness in his heart.
To think that Jang Hak-Seon could use that living statue capable of producing an unprecedented level of visual art only once!

If only Kang Jin-Ho could act just a bit—just a tiny bit.
Jang Hak-Seon would have done anything to craft a show solely centered around that young man.
However, that was an impossible dream.
Kang Jin-Ho needed an untold amount of effort to complete a single scene, so to have him as the main lead in a show? Even three years wouldn ’t be enough to shoot one episode!

Kang Jin-Ho ’s scene this time was a static one, making it easy to paper over the cracks by dubbing over his lines.
But such a ’solution ’ was only applicable since the scene itself was short.

Every TV show production ran on a tight schedule.
If dubbing had to be added on top of that, then well…
It would be completely impossible under the current Korean TV show filming conditions.
A feature-length film might be a different prospect, but…

’…Hang on.
How about a silent film? ’

Jang Hak-Seon cackled and lightly smacked his own head.
With how good things were going, it seemed all sorts of silly ideas were popping up in his head.
Instead of daydreaming stuff like that, he should be focusing on completing the second half of the show properly.

“So, then.
The scene rating went past eight percent, huh…”

Usually, an episode ’s average rating had to be around six percent for a scene rating to hit the eight percent mark.
However, this show still achieved that feat while failing to break past five percent.
It had to mean that the scene in question had blown everyone ’s mind.
Well, the ones who watched it, that was.

Pretty soon, word-of-mouth should get around.
And the impressions of the first episode should quickly profligate on various social media sites.
With that, other people dying of curiosity would seek out the episode.

’

The storyline would only get going for real from the second episode onward, which meant that as long as the new viewers could be retained, the show would be considered a huge success.

“…No, wait.
That alone isn ’t gonna be enough.” Jang Hak-Seon clenched his fists tightly, then yanked open the editing room ’s door.
“Hey, In-Hyeok! In-Hyeok, where are you!”

“Yes, Director!”

“Contact the talent agency, Code!”

“…Code, sir?”

“That ’s right.
Contact Miss Se-Ah ’s manager and let him know that I ’d like to speak to Mister Kang Jin-Ho.
Ask him to connect us two.”

”What should I say our business is this time? ”

Jang Hak-Seon smirked smoothly.
“Now that the viewer reactions are out, how about making another appearance in the second half of the show? Tell him I ’ll support him to the best of my abilities.”

“Understood, Director!”

While Jang Hak-Seon was cooking up various ways to coax Kang Jin-Ho back into the fray, his phone resting on a nearby table displayed a new tweet.

= I met the actor from ’Love Will Still Come ’ earlier! He ’s working in a pizzeria.
I thought it wasn ’t him initially, but it really was him! We even took some pictures!

The new tweet included the photograph of Kang Jin-Ho and two women with their faces blurred out hugging his arms.
And that was when the retweets and replies started to appear so fast the PD ’s latest smartphone was having a hard time keeping up with the notifications.

= Where is that pizzeria?

= Share the address! Hurry!

= He even lets you take pictures? And it really is him!

= I didn ’t notice it on screen, but from that photo, his physique is no joke either! Look at the snug fit!

= First time I find a chef ’s uniform so sexy.

A storm fierce enough to fluster Kang Jin-Ho was slowly gathering in the digital space.