Chapter 181

– Is Yooju actually the fake protagonist in this story.jpg

– Right at the end, wasn’t it Min-seo but actually Min-hyeok in disguise who stabbed her??

└ You crazy guy, make your assumptions a bit more logical.

After the airing of Episode 12 of *Sky Garden*, unlike the previously subdued reactions, an explosion of articles came flooding out as if a bomb had detonated.

There were probably multiple reasons for this.

The build-up that started in Episode 10.

Along with the attention gathered recently through *Masked Singer*.

And the fact that for people who were binging all at once, their pause point happened to be Episode 12.

Naturally, various community platforms and SNS were overwhelmed with all sorts of prediction posts.

– So does that mean Min-hyeok was also killed by Min-seo?

– No no no no, that doesn’t seem to be the case.

– Of course, I thought Min-hyeok was the one who had the murder weapon?

– But did Min-seo have a reason to stab Yooju??? I don’t understand;;

Such were the reactions.

Though some said the plot had become overly dramatic, it was undeniable that interest was definitely sparked.

The unpredictability of how the story would flow from here on out played a significant role.

And just as the reactions were intense…

“Wow.”

The staff at the filming site stood in awe, having overheard the reactions to the drama that aired yesterday.

They were just about to start filming Episode 15, but it was impossible to focus.

And with good reason.

“18 percent?”

“Seriously?”

It was too unbelievable to be true.

There had been a steady upward trend, and with the built-up anticipation, they had expected a good response.

But to see a rise like this was unexpected.

The ratings had previously struggled up to 14 percent.

Yet this week, they had surged to a whopping 18 percent.

That’s a rise of 4 percent.

What’s more important is…

“…We’ve won?”

They had overtaken *Grand Game* by 1 percent in ratings.

While *Grand Game* had been impressive for maintaining similar ratings, the consistent growth shown by *Sky Garden* was downright astonishing.

“Writer Min Se-hee has passed out!”

“Is she ascending to heaven? Her expression looks peaceful.”

Writer Min Se-hee, who would quietly show up on filming days, was lying in one corner with an enlightened expression, as if she couldn’t believe the response.

Even with advanced notice, her reaction suggested how she felt when hearing the story initially.

“Crazy.”

“Wow, seriously? I kept getting phone calls yesterday asking about what happens next in the story.”

The young actors at the filming site were visibly excited.

It was rare to have a drama in the past few years with ratings exceeding 18 percent.

Participating in this drama meant a surefire way to enhance their recognition as actors.

Naturally, they had to put in the effort to display their best selves as much as possible.

This *Sky Garden* would certainly become a lifelong portfolio piece in their acting careers, just like the portfolio Yooju’s brother desperately sought in the story.

“Seriously, Seoyeon, this is insane. How do you keep doing this with every project you’re in?”

Director Kim Il-soo approached Seoyeon with a beaming face, curious to ask.

Seoyeon, being the lead actress, must be feeling pretty elated right now.

Especially so, considering her usual demeanor.

Surely, there’d be that playful glint in her eyes asking for praise, accompanied by a slight shrug of her shoulders.

After saying so…

“…Huh?”

Seoyeon appeared unusually subdued.

Enough to make even Director Kim Il-soo flinch.

“H-Has something happened? Is there some bad news?”

“No, it’s nothing. Just…”

Seoyeon quickly bowed her head, saying she just had something on her mind.

Surely, the success of the drama must have made her exceptionally thrilled.

Only…

– My older brother works on the production staff for *Sky Garden*, and he said Sooyeon actually fell off during filming. D:

– Huh!! Was the valley okay?!

└ ??

– Yes, she’s fine.

– Whew.

– Fact: Gorillas originally live in mountains.

– Why are we even bringing up the gorilla meme about our Seoyeon?

After the *Magical Girl Harara* shorts, the memes had diminished relatively.

But now, with the influx of visitors to Seoyeon’s fan cafe via *Sky Garden*, the old memes started re-emerging.

They were truly unpredictable.

Of course, most of the reactions mentioned how truly outstanding Yooju’s acting was.

‘But the so-called fans…’

On general community platforms, outside of the fan cafe, the most frequently mentioned animals were often of the puppy variety.

Yooju looked like a puppy bouncing around on variety shows.

At the fan cafe, however, VS debates kept popping up, making it confusing if it was a fan cafe or an anti-fan hub.

‘Not that I dislike strong.’

Regardless, what was this supposed to be? Was it a matter of pride?

Seoyeon felt a slight sense of crisis because it seemed like the perception of her as an actress was being overshadowed.

While there were many comments about her beauty, too often, she was described as a pretty gorilla, or something along those lines.

And that triggered some pride…

‘Huh, if I show them the proper way, they’ll change their minds soon enough.’

Seoyeon narrowed her eyes and gave a bunch of likes to a post she’d just read.

She had enough backup accounts prepared just in case.

‘Anyway.’

Seojoo let out a sigh.

So far, she’d been on a long journey of improving her image.

And it seemed she’d have to choose what had been most successful until now.

***

“Are you okay with this even though filming schedule is tight? It’s fine if we push it back a bit.”

Josephi suggested while sitting beside her, even though her expression was more gleeful than her words.

After all, Josephi loved amusement parks, and this was the first time she was coming with a friend, especially a peer actor.

Having a common understanding with Seoryeon made Josephi’s day at least five times better than usual.

Even more exciting for Josephi, Seoyeon wasn’t alone this time.

“Seohee, can I ride the rides to my heart’s content?”

“Sure thing, of course!”

“Wow!”

Soyeon, Seoyeon’s younger sister, was also joining them today.

‘Genes are truly powerful.’

Josephi thought. Though Seoyeon was strikingly beautiful, Soyeon was surprisingly adorable.

Josephi had to restrain herself from the urge to scoop Soyeon up and hug her.

“But is it alright to go out like this so suddenly?”

Seoyeon asked Josephi.

Even though it was sudden, they hadn’t done any promotions.

“Let’s treat it as a surprise event. Perfect timing.”

“Not really…”

“Anyway, once we go out, everyone will record and upload videos to the internet. It’s more effective than corporate advertisements.”

Seoyeon nodded at Josephi’s words.

How many views did her Harara stuff reach again? She hadn’t checked since it surpassed 5 million, so it might’ve even hit 10 million already.

By now, not just Koreans but foreign comments were visible too.

It was terrifying how far the *Magical Girl* shorts had spread.

‘Thanks to that, I’ve certainly gained beneficial image-wise.’

Though Seoyeon loves praise, the rare occasion where she doesn’t check Harara shorts is because the comments are plastered with words like “cute.”

Regardless of how much people say she’s strong, she just shrugs. However, the overwhelming “cute” comments make her chest itch uncomfortably, to the point she can’t bear to look.

“Alright, we’ve arrived.”

Seoyeon thought to herself and confirmed it. Fancy cars are undeniably good. Maybe if she saves up money later, she’ll get one for her dad.

With those thoughts in mind, she raised her head and saw…

“…”

“Why is that?”

“Ah, isn’t this supposed to be something like Daejeon World or something?”

“Does this place even have rides?”

“Ah, is that you criticizing a major feature of Daejeon?”

Seoyeon’s comment with raised eyebrows left Josephi perplexed.

“Wait, I thought you were from Seoul?”

Why is she so into Daejeon’s World? Josephi had only just discovered its existence.

After all, isn’t Daejeon known more for its bakeries?

“Anyway, how do you feel?”

“I’m honestly surprised.”

Seoyeon glanced around the amusement park grounds, genuinely astounded. To be honest, the amusement parks Seoyeon knew aside from Everland were just the most famous ones.

Since that was pretty much the extent of what she visited, this place easily compared.

And the latest rides were all shiny and new.

Naturally, Soyeon next to her was jumping with joy, arms up in the air.

“Big sister, wow, wow!”

“Speaking of which, who taught you that word?”

“Uh, Dad says it often?”

Indeed, her manner of speaking seemed strangely middle-aged because of her father.

Seoyeon gave a sharp glance at Youngbin at home. Better not be teaching her sister weird speech patterns.

“Let’s ride the rides after the event… Shall we go inside first?”

She had already watched the videos beforehand to know how the acting would go.

Of course, the acting Seoyeon had to do wasn’t much of anything spectacular.

Still, she would need to coordinate with other actors, which was why she had come out so early in the morning.

“Big sister, are you going to be the magical girl again today?”

“Perhaps it will be similar.”

Honestly, Seoyeon wanted to be Zero-ro, the character Soyeon loved, this time around.

It would suit her image much better.

‘Actually, Seohee would fit the role of villain better.’

Seoyeon glanced at Seohee beside her. Though Seoyeon had a sharp impression herself, she felt Seohee was more naturally suited to villainous roles.

“I’m still better and kinder on screen, aren’t I?”

‘Seoyeon will definitely be Zero-ro, though.’

Seohee guessed as much.

Since Soyeon liked Zero-ro, naturally as an older sister, she’d want to be Zero-ro.

Zero-ro, though not as popular as Harara, was a beloved character.

Especially because they were portrayed as a clumsy noble lady on-screen, which would leave the public with a good impression.

‘Seoyeon fits the villain better than me anyway.’

Seohee knew she usually played the role of an evil upper-class young lady.

But compared to Seoyeon, who had left a strong impression as a villain, her face seemed gentler.

She secretly liked Harara.

How cute.

Although, she couldn’t admit it aloud.

She just subtly managed to persuade her father into embedding this event at the amusement park.

From the company’s standpoint, there were no drawbacks since they would be holding a children’s play based on the recently popular Harara.

She thought about that, when Soyeon looked up at her with sparkling eyes.

“Seohee, are you also participating in the play?”

“Hmm?”

“Really? I want to see Seohee’s acting!”

“Is that so?”

As Soyeon reacted like this, she could feel her lips curling into a smile.

Her little sister was adorable.

But asking her father for this favor wasn’t going to happen because she was the youngest.

“Yup, Soyeon likes Seohee’s acting.”

At those words, Seohee prepared to smile back but stiffened as she felt a chill up her spine, her eyes turning upward.

There, she saw Seoyeon, quietly standing behind Soyeon, staring right at her.

“Huh, why?”

What could she have done wrong?

Seohee shuddered under such thoughts.

“Hmph.”

Seoyeon puffed her cheeks indignantly.

‘I haven’t heard much praise from her either.’

Mostly she heard “Sister is always a villain! She was bad!!”

It wasn’t as if she only wanted to play villains.

Yooju was clearly a protagonist, not a villain.

She felt wronged.

‘Today, I’ll show her what I’m capable of.’

Seoyeon became more motivated.

She would verbally admit herself that Seohee’s acting was great.

***

Minnae Park.

It’s the Newlike Group’s amusement park completed two years ago.

While it may not be called the largest in Korea, the land is rather expansive.

More importantly, it was a completely modernized amusement park with the latest in ride technology.

They extensively promoted the park by featuring multiple entertainers.

They successfully revived the dwindling popularity over the past two years.

Especially since the Newlike subsidiary focused on cultural industries.

There were many themed parks related to movies and dramas, and they consistently maintained demand.

Among them, the park frequently hosted children’s plays due to their significant investment as the primary stakeholder in *Loop Entertainment*, which gained fame through *Magical Girl Harara* recently.

Of course, even with all the ambitious preparation, they hadn’t yet met expectations.

Therefore, this time, they decided to incorporate celebrities for publicity.

‘That’s what I heard.’

Park Dong-hwan, a cast member for this year’s *Magical Girl Harara* play, swallowed dryly at the sight of the two actresses in front of him.

Jo Soo-yeon and Cho Seo-hee.

How many people among the younger generation of actors didn’t know them?

Especially Jo Soo-yeon, who had only been in the industry for a year, left an impression as a child actress in *The Moon That Hid the Sun* and quickly evolved into the most active female actor in one year.

She did one movie and two dramas, appearing in various variety shows and became a very familiar face to the public.

Why would actors like these appear in a children’s play?

“That seems to be true.”

“What’s that?”

“There’s a rumor that Cho Seo-hee is the daughter of a Newlike executive.”

The term “executive daughter” might sound odd to hear.

In short, it means the precious daughter of a wealthy family.

‘Why would such a high-born daughter be an actress?’

He was curious.

Thinking about it, the president of Newlike’s wife was a famous actress.

Unfortunately, she passed away early, but if she hadn’t, she would have been even more famous.

She was known as a genius actress back then, he remembered clearly how that caused a buzz.

While pondering this, he saw Seoyeon and Seohee coming towards this place.

“Ah, which of you is Harara and which is Zero-ro?”

He knew that today the two actors would be playing as Harara and Zero-ro respectively.

So when he asked…

“…I am Harara.”

Seoyeon shot a chilly glance at Seohee beside her.

Seohee naturally felt wronged at that.

After all, she truly intended to perform as Harara.

Just that…

“Big sister must be Harara!! The kind magical girl!!”

“Hey, but big sister can also be…”

“Big sister is cool, that’s why Harara suits her.”

Soyeon threw a fit, despite loving Zero-ro herself!!

Of course, calling her big sister cool wasn’t entirely negative, but still…

Seoyeon poked Seohee’s ribs with her finger, an adorable act but the pain Seohee felt wasn’t cute at all.

She instinctively covered her aching rib with her hands.

‘Why, I really feel wronged.’

Naturally, Cho Seohee’s expression turned somber.

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