A combined viewership rating of 10.1%. It was the proud premiere rating of Produce That 100!. The moment PD U Hanseok heard the number, his eyes widened, then his face quickly turned into a smile.
“10.1%, okay.”
As soon as he answered the junior on the other end of the phone, the writers, including Kim Sehui, erupted into cheers. No, they were closer to screams.
“Kyaaaah!! Is that for real?? 10.1%?!”
“Awesome!! Awesome!!!”
“What the hell! What’s going on!! We broke 10% from the very first episode??!!”
“······Someone pinch me. This doesn’t feel real.”
“Wow—I’ve never hit 10% in ratings before!!”
At the writers’ excitement, the rest of the staff—filming, sound, lighting, and everyone else who had been busy preparing—came rushing over.
“What, what?? Why!! What is it!”
“They said the ratings broke 10%!!!”
“Whaaat???! R-Really?!!”
“Uwaaaah!! 10%!! 10%!!”
In no time, the hall with the stage descended into chaos. The thrill spread in an instant. All hundred or so staff members inside the hall were jumping up and down.
It was nothing short of a massive festival atmosphere.
The hall rang with the staff’s screams.
At that point, PD U Hanseok, the head of P100, smiled faintly and looked around at the staff with satisfaction.
‘They’re excited, those little punks.’
With over ten years of experience, PD U Hanseok had, of course, hit ratings in the 10% range before. But that was from a rather distant past. In an era like the present, where there was an overflow of things to watch besides TV—Neotube, OTT platforms, and more—10% carried a different kind of destructive power.
On top of that, P100 was on the general programming and cable channel JTVM.
A 10% rating on a general programming or cable channel? On terrestrial TV, that was no different from hitting 20%. No, perhaps even more than that. These days, whether on terrestrial TV or elsewhere, the number of people watching television was shrinking, and the market was struggling. There were crisis theories everywhere, whether for variety shows, dramas, news, documentaries—anything.
To break through all that and post a 10% rating would have been called a decent hit in the past, but now it was a mega-hit.
Just then.
“Breaking news, breaking news!!”
Writer Kim Sehui, who had received word from the broadcasting station center, shouted in a high-energy voice.
“P100 ranked first in ratings for its Friday time slot!! And it didn’t just beat variety shows—it beat the dramas too!”
The cheers from the hundred or so production staff doubled in volume. In broadcasting, Friday at 9 p.m. was called prime time. Accordingly, many stations placed their killer programs in that slot, whether variety shows or dramas. P100 had beaten all of them in ratings.
It was a number and a result they could fully savor.
The staff of P100 felt a catharsis as if all the hardships they had endured until now had never existed. This was how the quality of a broadcast rose and reached completion. But as if that still wasn’t enough, the writers tossed in more bait to pump them up.
“But this is only the beginning! Yesterday’s premiere ended with the final cut properly heating things up, and today, Saturday, episode 2 is airing right after it! The ratings are obviously going to rise no matter what!!”
She was right. Ratings had a flow to them. A flow toward failure, and a flow toward rising. P100 had clearly boarded the rising flow, and with today’s consecutive broadcast to commemorate the launch, the chances of the ratings going up were very high.
Then PD U Hanseok gave instructions to the frenzied writers.
“Tell the center to hound the reporters more. Make sure twice as many articles as now can go out!”
“Yes!!”
“And release all the edited videos we prepared for Neotube! Not just Neotube—send them out to other video platforms, search sites, everywhere!!”
As a veteran, PD U Hanseok had already prepared a generous stockpile of edited videos for Neotube, various video platforms, and social media. Then, as if there had already been a plan drawn up in advance, the writers moved in perfect order.
“Ah, and! For the edited videos, focus mainly on No. 1!!”
PD U Hanseok added another order.
“Don’t hold back on the shorts or today’s preview either. Release everything!”
About thirty minutes later.
While the staff in the hall were in a frenzy, Gang Rojun was calmly running in the park beside the contestants’ dormitory.
‘Even if my mood’s floating, I can’t skip the mission.’
Gang Rojun ran calmly, his black hair swaying. That did not mean his inner thoughts were calm as well. He was excited too, but was forcing himself to act composed. If he got too swept up in the feeling, he might make a mistake.
The funny thing was.
“H-Huff—Kuhh, huff—”
“Wait, huff! I—I give up!”
The number of contestants running around Rojun had increased. Originally, only his Room 105 peers had participated, but now, whether it was because of the premiere effect or not, the number of people running had easily surpassed a dozen. Though they did end up collapsing on the ground before even thirty minutes had passed. His Room 105 peers had given up long ago as well.
At present, only Gang Rojun was still running.
The Room 105 members, gathered in a cluster, were all busy looking at their phones. The scrawny No. 19 and the copper-skinned No. 37 showed excessive fighting spirit.
“Whoa, damn!! Articles are popping up every second!”
“I know! Every time I refresh Neriver, a new article comes out!!”
“This is seriously crazy, for real!!”
In fact, the entertainment media was pouring out new reports related to P100.
《A Smash Hit, P100 Opens Its Lid with a Premiere Combined Rating of ‘10.1%’!》
《P100, Expected to Become a Sensation, Starts in Splendid Fashion with 10.1% Ratings; Viewer Reactions at Furnace Level》
《Online Communities Are Now Saturated with P100 / Photos》
While there were positive reactions, there were also quite a few negative articles.
《How Long Will the Self-Replication of “Survival Audition Variety Shows” Continue, as Seen Through P100?》
《“It’s Boring, So Why All the Fuss?” Netizens Who Watched P100 Deliver Sharp Criticism》
Whichever side it was, it was attention, and the entertainment sections of major search sites were practically occupied by P100.
“I guess a 10% rating really is insane. I didn’t expect it to blow up this much.”
“This isn’t just a hit, it’s a mega-mega-mega-mega-hit. SNS and communities are going berserk right now too.”
Even at this very moment, countless people somewhere must have been hammering away at their keyboards about P100. The Room 105 peers couldn’t put down their phones out of amazement. Rojun desperately wanted to join them too, but he somehow finished his exercise missions.
Had about an hour passed?
After finishing their workout, Rojun and the Room 105 members moved toward the dormitory.
“No. 1! Did you see your face all over Instagram right now??”
“Right, it’s being shared like crazy. Same with the communities.”
Yeah, of course I saw it. In truth, Gang Rojun was extremely tired right now.
‘What time did I go to sleep last night? Damn it, I couldn’t hold back and ended up looking.’
Because he had spent the entire dawn searching and searching, he had only slept a few hours.
‘But I have no regrets.’
It was a thrill, or a joy, worth giving up sleep for. Something he had never imagined in his entire life was happening, so who could possibly resist?
“Yes, I saw it too.”
“Doesn’t it feel amazing??!! Hah—I’m seriously so damn jealous.”
“When your performance of ‘Bereavement’ airs in episode 2 today, won’t it be even crazier?”
“Agreed. I looked at some comments, and people are making a huge fuss saying No. 1’s face is god-tier, but his vocals are probably tone-deaf.”
No. 19 and No. 37 were so excited they wouldn’t stop talking, and No. 88, the reaction robot, kept nodding. Then No. 58, with the baby perm, who had been quiet the whole time, joined in softly.
“···Let’s watch episode 2 together tonight.”
“Right! They said we’re not gathering like we did for the premiere today, so we’ll have to watch it in our room!”
Afterward, the Room 105 members, including Gang Rojun, washed up and headed toward the cafeteria. However, Rojun said,
“I’m going to use the restroom for a bit.”
Making an excuse, he slipped away. The place Rojun arrived at was a restroom on a different floor, not the same one. It was a place he had looked up in advance where there were no people. As expected, there was no one in the restroom, and after settling into a stall, Gang Rojun let out a breath.
“Phew—this is hectic.”
He calmed his floating heart and picked up his phone. First, he checked the AI Simulation app.
-[User: Gang Rojun / Age: 24 / Height: 182.8 / Desired Occupation: Idol / Coins Owned: 416]
Including today’s missions, his coins had already reached 416. After looking at the coins for a moment, Rojun used them on stat enhancement as part of his routine.
‘Today, singing—and let’s raise choreography too.’
He used a total of 20 coins. Because he had recently earned quite a few coins through hidden missions, he went ahead with the investment. The status change happened immediately.
-[Appearance (100/100)│Singing Ability (8.7/100)│Rap (1.7/100)]
[Choreography (6.4/100)│Speaking Skill (6.5/100)│Acting (3.8/100)]
His singing ability would soon hit 10. His choreography had risen quite a bit too. The other stats had changed as well. Soon, Rojun rubbed his chin, warmed up his throat, and sang softly. Of course, it was not “Bereavement.”
-♬♪
Stopping soon after, he tilted his head.
“Hmm?”
He got up and this time moved his body. He was dancing. He tried to imitate what another contestant had danced from memory. Rojun, who stopped again after a few dozen seconds, murmured quietly.
“Can this really be called tone-deaf and hopeless at dancing anymore?”
Some traces remained, but his skill had clearly improved. Then, after scanning his status stats once more, Gang Rojun arrived at one conclusion.
“···So 10 wasn’t a small number after all.”
It was his own judgment, but 10 in a stat was probably around slightly below the level of an average person.
‘If I raise it to just 20, it’ll probably be considered decent among ordinary people.’
Well, he would find out with time. Gang Rojun decided that once his singing ability reached 10, he would invest next in choreography, then rap, acting, and speaking skill, in that order. Soon, his eyes moved to the last part of the stats.
-[Lyrics (0.4/100)]│[Composition (0/100)│Arrangement (0/100)]
Compared to the other stats, this side had barely grown at all.
‘Hmm—I feel like I’ll need these later too.’
Around lunchtime.
The domestic broadcasting world, including terrestrial stations, general programming channels, and cable, was in an uproar. What else could it be? It was because of P100, which had become hot in an instant.
“Wow—P100 got 10% ratings?? Damn, I’m so jealous it hurts!”
“The department head was seriously on edge. It’s not like we’re sitting around doing nothing.”
“Jinseong’s show lost to P100 in the ratings, didn’t it? No wonder he’s pissed.”
“By the way, what’s with that No. 1 kid?? His visuals would just devour actors whole.”
The department heads and higher-ups of each broadcasting station, CPs, PDs, assistant directors, writers, and many others were all talking about it. Of course, the situation was the same in both variety and drama departments. SBC, where PD Jeong Suryeong was, was no exception. Perhaps because this was the drama department, there was more talk about Contestant No. 1, who had turned viewers upside down in the premiere, than about P100 itself.
When someone marveled while watching an edited Neotube video,
“No. 1’s visuals are more shocking the more you look at them······ No, where the hell did U Hanseok find something like this?”
PD Jeong Suryeong, who had tied up her dry, frizzy hair, glanced over and answered inwardly.
‘That No. 1 is the grand prize winner of our one-act drama contest, and he’s the writer who’s going to work on a project with me.’
When another PD joined in while reading an article,
“And it looks like No. 1 isn’t even wearing makeup on his face, but he still looks like this? Ugh—this kid should’ve become an actor!!”
PD Jeong Suryeong cleared her throat and answered inwardly again.
‘He’s scheduled to appear in the one-act drama he wrote. He even came here to SBC and had a meeting, I’m telling you!’
At present, aside from the P100 side, PD Jeong Suryeong was the only person in the country who had made contact with Gang Rojun. The work had even progressed quite a bit. PD Jeong Suryeong was dying because her mouth was itching to tell someone. Of course, she too had watched P100 yesterday and been left dumbfounded. She had predicted that Gang Rojun was probably an idol trainee from some decent agency.
But.
‘To think he’d drop a nuclear bomb like this.’
Soon, the male PD seated two seats away from her muttered,
“That No. 1 kid really hooked the viewers hard with one face reveal.”
That was right. PD Jeong Suryeong knew it better than anyone. After all, she was the one who had cursed the moment she first saw Rojun because of those insane visuals.
‘Writer Gang Cheolsu—no, No. 1—whether he sings well or badly, even if he’s tone-deaf, he’ll definitely blow up.’
There was no way the P100 production team, or PD U Hanseok, would leave a character with that much value alone. From now on, Gang Rojun would become P100’s ratings machine.
‘Beyond episode 2, it’ll only get more incredible from here on. If it’s already this much from the premiere, after a few more episodes, it’ll be at the level of a sensation.’
PD Jeong Suryeong, whose seat was by the window, looked at the article open on her laptop. Rojun’s face was plastered across the article in huge size. Even PD Jeong Suryeong, who had seen countless actors, found it absurd; how much more so for the general public seeing Gang Rojun? Just then, one of her fellow PDs brushed past behind her and spoke.
“PD Jeong, you were looking at No. 1 too? Killer, right? Isn’t that a face even Hollywood would be shocked by??”
“······”
Without answering, PD Jeong Suryeong looked once again at Gang Rojun in the article. Until just a few days ago, she had thought of things moderately.
‘The situation has changed.’
There was a big difference between Gang Rojun becoming popular later after the one-act drama launched and causing it to climb back up, versus Gang Rojun’s influence first becoming tremendous and then the one-act drama launching. Right now, with one blow from P100, Writer Gang Cheolsu had gathered an enormous amount of attention. If things went on like this, it was obvious that not only would he have strong hooking power, but the label of hot rising star would also be attached to him.
‘If it’s revealed to the current media and public opinion that No. 1, who was inflating the issue like that, was actually a writer, and even acted in the one-act drama he wrote—’
What if they mixed No. 1 and P100 together for marketing? PD Jeong Suryeong’s mouth watered.
‘Could Rental Lover end up becoming a ratings smash hit??’
If so, she would have to revise the things that had already been decided regarding Rental Lover.
‘Looks like I’ll have to··· make the stage a little bigger.’