I'm an Unknown Actress, But Everyone Knows Me

What kind of dish had webfoot octopus originally been?

[HOT / This place supposedly has insane lines right now.jpg]

(Capture from yesterday’s .jpg)

Yesterday’s Daehakro restaurant featured on the broadcast where everyone just spammed “TT_TT”

(webfoot octopus stir-frying.gif)

(wrapping it in lettuce.gif)

(final fried rice.gif)

It aired for about ten minutes,

(real-time waiting line.jpg)

and now the line looks like this lol

Anonymous 1: This is insane lol how long do you even have to wait

Anonymous 2: I used to come here pretty often...T_T guess I’ll never be able to again

Anonymous 15: Watching this suddenly made me crave webfoot octopus; I’ve literally never wanted it this badly in my life

Anonymous 26: fr me too LOLOLOL it’s usually more like “eat it or not” food, not “I HAVE to eat this” food

That was the thing. If you were being strict about it, webfoot octopus had never really belonged to the mainstream. There was pork belly, the eternal dining-out menu, and then slightly cheaper spicy stir-fried chicken. It had always been overshadowed by those two.

Maang @maaaaang

webfoot octopus (•̀ ڡ•́) so delicious

Reposts 101 Likes 203

Nyam @Nyammmm___

today’s mukbang is webfoot octopus

Reposts 1123 Likes 3212

1ovemem0re

why am I seeing so much webfoot octopus on my feed;; did you all board deep-sea fishing boats without me?

Reposts 11 Likes 19

But before even 24 hours had passed since yesterday’s broadcast of , a nationwide webfoot octopus craze began.

So Dami’s cheese ramen and Choo Gaeul’s seasoned raw beef gained some modest popularity, but nothing compared to Han Yeoreum’s spicy webfoot octopus.

“Customer number 88, please come in—!”

Wang Auntie’s Spicy Webfoot Octopus, which had already had a long line before opening, was experiencing unprecedented prosperity. It wasn’t even peak time yet, and the place was already packed.

Click!

“Whoa, hey! This is insane.”

“So damn good....”

Everyone had come after watching yesterday’s . Wang Auntie could tell just by looking. Even the way they ate was identical.

“Fried rice?”

“How many should we get? Two?”

“There are three of us—two?”

At some point, they were even repeating Han Yeoreum’s lines. The restaurant buzzed with the sizzling sound of octopus cooking and lively chatter.

On one side wall, Han Yeoreum’s autograph was displayed in the most visible spot.

[Wish Wang Auntie were my real aunt!

Thanks for the delicious meal (ˇ∀ˇ)bb

Actress Han Yeoreum]

While stirring the octopus in a frenzy, Wang Auntie’s eyes landed on the neatly written autograph. She glanced at the wall for a moment, then turned back and gave the octopus another toss with her tongs.

She should buy a frame.

So that autograph could stand out even more.

* * *

“Is it really that bad?”

Park Sehee had just gone up on stage as usual. Before she even had time to remove her heavy makeup, her phone rang—it was Wang Auntie.

The shop normally closed at 9 p.m. But today, she said, there was no way she could shut down at that time.

“Yes! I’ll be there soon!”

Park Sehee immediately grabbed her bag. She shouted a quick goodbye to the theater troupe and ran up the stairs.

‘That’s a relief. At least for a few months, the broadcast will carry us.’

She thought of Han Yeoreum. It had really just been something she said in passing.

“Unnie, what are you doing these days? Still working part-time at Wang Auntie’s Spicy Webfoot Octopus?”

“Yeah, I am. But I think I might need to find another job. The owner’s considering closing the place.”

“What? No way!”

“Why...?”

“My long-standing memories are soaked into that spicy octopus! You’re saying the tear-stained octopus place is closing?”

“You can’t even eat spicy food...? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you cry while eating....”

“It’s a metaphor, unnie.”

Han Yeoreum probably ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) didn’t have any deep memories tied to that place. She’d only been there a few times during . And yet she had stepped in as if it were her own problem.

Park Sehee was grateful.

As she exited the theater and checked the time on her phone, someone approached her.

“Um....”

“Yes?”

“You’re... right?”

Right about what? Park Sehee blinked, confused.

“! The, um, octopus. Han Yeoreum.”

Startled, Park Sehee nodded. The person nudged their companion.

“See? I told you.”

After hesitating for a moment, the two handed her a canned drink—bright blue sports drink.

“We really enjoyed your play today.”

“We’ll come again next time!”

“Ah....”

No one had ever said something like that to her before. Park Sehee bowed awkwardly.

“Thank you.”

As if they hadn’t expected a big reaction, the two said goodbye and passed by. Just before they got too far, she heard a small cheer.

“Fighting!”

Holding the cold can in her hand, Park Sehee felt her heart racing so fast that she ended up running all the way to the restaurant without stopping.

Right now, it felt like she could do anything.

* * *

“Hey, this bastard’s a genius.”

IP 85.152 had come to Daehakro with friends. After watching yesterday’s , her friends had immediately thought of her.

Since she practically lived in Daehakro and was already planning to see a play that weekend, they quickly made plans.

She put her name on the waiting list before the show and watched the play comfortably. Thanks to that, she didn’t have to wait outside and could enter right away.

“Damn, this is good.”

“I was starving watching that yesterday.”

Her friends started eating the spicy webfoot octopus as soon as it finished cooking. IP 85.152 knew every famous restaurant in Daehakro by heart.

Since this place wasn’t in her memory, she hadn’t expected much.

“So? What do you think!”

Her friends’ eyes sparkled, waiting for her verdict.

“Well....”

After chewing the chewy, spicy octopus, she said flatly,

“It’s decent.”

Her indifferent tone made her friends explode.

“Hey, take her chopsticks away!”

“Her attitude toward octopus is unacceptable!”

Right then, the door burst open and someone rushed in. All eyes turned toward the entrance.

The person striding in quickly—it was Park Sehee, a supporting actress from the play IP 85.152 had just watched.

“Could I get a photo with you...?”

“Yes, of course!”

Customers who had been glancing at her busy figure in an apron approached her before leaving.

IP 85.152 kept eating, uninterested.

“What are you appearing in? Are you in the same project as Han Yeoreum?”

“In , what role are you playing?”

People surrounded Park Sehee with questions. She hadn’t even debuted on TV yet, so she tried to explain awkwardly.

“Your stage acting in today was amazing!”

IP 85.152 suddenly said loudly.

“You’ve clearly been doing theater for a long time—your projection is great, your diction is precise, and your character interpretation is detailed! Your rooftop tenant role was incredible!”

Her words stirred the room. IP 85.152 casually went back to eating.

“Ah, theater...!”

“Well, this is Daehakro, after all.”

Thanks to her, Park Sehee was firmly imprinted in people’s minds as a theater actress.

“What was the play called again?”

“Blow... Wind... Troupe. Ah, found it.”

“Should we go see this next week?”

Some people began searching. Spotting Park Sehee’s small profile photo in the cast list, they booked tickets for her scheduled performance.

Watching them out of the corner of her eye, IP 85.152 thought to herself,

‘What I just did wasn’t noise pollution—it was basically a promotional line to support the development of Korea’s theater industry.’

At that moment, three cans of soda—none of which they had ordered—were placed on their table.

It was a small gesture of gratitude from a struggling actress for a theater fan.

Smiling shyly, Park Sehee offered the service.

On the way back after finishing the meal, IP 85.152’s booking screen now showed tickets for Park Sehee’s performance.

They were already almost sold out.

* * *

The clip views from yesterday’s were unprecedented.

“This is insane... it’s blowing up....”

“And this fast....”

“Shortest time ever, right?”

The production team stared at the view count on MBS Entertainment’s Intube channel, .

INTUBE

[What do actresses eat when preparing for roles? Youth Disqualified! Calorie Approved! Han Yeoreum, Choo Gaeul, So Dami | EmBubu]

Views 1,534,112

As Gam Dajeong had predicted, the clip edited to focus only on the eating scenes saw explosive growth.

– How did she even think of eating cheese ramen like that... our Dami is so smart TT_TT

– Actress Choo Gaeul~ she looks so neat but surprisingly goes to old-school eateries alone^^ Even while dieting she eats well, so pretty pretty

– It’s nice seeing the Youth Disqualified team like this, but are we not getting the after-party encore performance video? I’m desperately waiting. The footage from citizens feels immersive in composition but the audio quality is lacking...LOL anyway

↳ This guy still hasn’t recovered from that live showcase LMAO

– I ordered spicy webfoot octopus because of Han Yeoreum yesterday LOOOL

↳ same here

↳ me too T_T I didn’t even like octopus before but it was so good... is this the power of broadcasting?

The moment it was uploaded, the views skyrocketed and the video climbed into the trending list. Comments kept pouring in, and likes increased rapidly.

“I thought the color grading would kill me....”

“But it was worth it....”

The buzz made all the time spent locked in the editing room feel worthwhile.

Content creators chasing broadcast buzz started pumping out related content after watching this episode of .

INTUBE

[Sweet couple weekend date vlog / So Dami cheese ramen at a manga café]

Views 213,221

[Fashion reseller’s tips for picking clothes at Dongmyo – luxury vintage everywhere? | Line Unnie]

Views 446,726

[Make addictive spicy webfoot octopus easily at home! (Revealing my secret sauce)]

Views 847,928

Everything featured in this episode was easy to eat and easy to access. And with the weather warming up, it perfectly stimulated people’s desire to go out somewhere.

“Still, the clear top is... this one....”

“Apparently is going to cover it this morning.”

“Already? That was fast.”

Han Yeoreum’s Wang Auntie’s Spicy Webfoot Octopus had people lining up an hour before opening. Even after only a few days, waiting-line updates were constantly being posted.

It was the Han Yeoreum effect.

“Let’s schedule Park Sehee next time....”

With a small smile, Gam Dajeong recalled the unknown actress who had been standing next to Han Yeoreum.

And then—

Bang!

“Ahhh! The PD collapsed!”

“I knew this would happen someday....”

“Does this count as a workplace injury?”

The moment she realized this episode had become a massive success, Gam Dajeong fell backward.

“I’m going to sleep, so everyone be quiet....”

Han Yeoreum’s spicy webfoot octopus clip alone surpassed 3 million views. And was reaping the full benefit.

INTUBE

[Is my classmate weirdly hostile only to me? What’s wrong with this freshman | Youth Disqualified ep.1]

Views 114,887

– I got here while watching octopus videos lolol what is this

↳ same here cheese ramen → raw beef → spicy octopus → here

– Anyone come from King of Mask Singer? LOOL why is everyone only talking about octopus

– Among rising actresses, she’s clearly at the top... her voice and facial acting are treasures^^ I’ve trusted her since Strange Tales. Han Yeoreum, stay healthy~ looking forward to your future works

More and more people were clicking on anything that showed Han Yeoreum’s face without hesitation.

Because of that, Episode 3 of began with far more viewers than usual.

* * *

A senior reporter at Daily Media had started watching .

Maybe it was an occupational hazard. He never watched dramas in full. Since he constantly got spoiled through press releases, he usually only watched highlights.

‘I more or less know the story here too.’

The script of had circulated in the industry, so he already knew the general flow.

And yet, he found himself watching Episode 3 at 10 p.m. on Wednesday.

There are countless elements that make a work successful.

Visually stunning cinematography, overwhelming scale, plot twists, healing that resonates with everyone, romance people dream of at least once, acting skill, unforgettable lines.

‘But beyond all that....’

had brought viewers closer by showing its preparation process before it even properly began.

Anyone who had watched the characters grow from the start would keep following it, just like he was now.

He had never once been wrong in predicting first-episode ratings. But he could never predict what came after.

There were simply too many variables.

‘But....’

For some reason, this one felt predictable.

‘There’s no way it drops below 8%.’

With an exciting musical cue, Episode 3 of began.