I'm an Unknown Actress, But Everyone Knows Me

“The greatest enemy of our broadcasting station! Pi. Chae. Won!!!”

At some point, in the center director’s mind, Pi Chaewon had become the culprit who cut their ratings in half.

With any type of content, beginnings and endings were crucial. You had to make viewers curious for what came next.

But because of , existing viewers were skipping the first ten minutes of MBS dramas entirely.

-Is it just me, or did I stop watching the whole thing and just watch ParCheHi clips instead LOLOLLL

˪ LOLOL  same T_T LOLOLOL also when I watch ParCheHi clenching my toes and then come here I just can’t immerse.. it’s too stiff and serious

˪ The directing and acting both feel kinda old? And it drags a bit...T_T

Thanks to that, viewers who experienced that broken story flow began dropping the MBS drama one by one.

Conveniently, a competing channel launched a new drama on the exact day of the finale. As a result, they absorbed MBS’s existing viewers with ease.

“They started with a first-episode rating of 5.7!!! You’re not pairing your debut work with our sworn enemy, are you?!”

“Why not...? It’s not impossible.”

Watching the center director stomp in rage, Director So replied calmly. That calmness only raised the director’s blood pressure.

“What do you mean WHY NOT! Yesol! Get a grip. Healing! Empathy! That’s what you do best. But what does a twenty-year-old know! Does she understand how hard society is?! How petty and filthy and tiring life is?! Does she know what it means to want to throw everything away?! How will she ever reach viewers’ hearts?!”

The center director screamed, listing all the reasons Han Yeoreum should not be the lead of .

‘She seemed to know. Those dirty, exhausting emotions....’

Director So recalled Yeoreum reading the script—sighing heavily, mixing in that sickening ache, that fed-up tone. That vivid, irritated voice from across the table had drilled into her ears.

“So! Yesol! That web drama—what was it, ten minutes, eight episodes? Even combined, barely two hours. How can a kid who only showed a tiny glimpse of acting in that handle a full hour-long drama with strength?! Think carefully! It’s your career! This completely clashes with your healing concept!”

And that was precisely why Director So could not back down.

“I don’t think this one-episode special will have that much of a ripple effect. I....”

Because a clear, undeniable Jung Yeondu was right there.

“As you know, Director... this is the age of cost-effectiveness. People who want healing don’t turn on the TV to watch a small, quiet drama made by some director they’ve never heard of, starring actors they barely know, with no 10-billion, 20-billion budget hype—no one expects audiences to tune into that kind of small drama....”

“W-what?!”

She could not let it slip away. No matter what the director said, she had to push this through.

“Tired people won’t spend their time that way. It’s a waste of time... They’d rather scroll SNS and read meaningless posts. Why would they invest an hour into a video instead of consuming a 1-second clip...?”

At So Yesol’s cold reasoning, the center director’s mouth dropped open. He couldn’t speak. It was flawless analysis.

“That’s why, for the message of ‘take a moment to rest’—the core of my healing intention—I need Han Yeoreum.”

The center director’s mouth shut. He himself had analyzed ’s comments, likes, and views dozens of times.

He couldn’t completely deny that Director So’s idea might actually work.

“Short clips circulating online, InTube comments people stumble on, the mentions popping up in communities—those are all reasons Han Yeoreum might pull in exhausted viewers....”

He wanted to say no, but he couldn’t. His pride crumpled.

“And why wouldn’t she be capable of carrying it alone?”

Looking at his expression, Director So smiled faintly.

“One hour won’t be nearly enough for Han Yeoreum.”

The center director cleared his throat loudly and asked her one last thing.

“It’s your debut. Are you sure you won’t regret this?”

“Of course.”

“Ugh. Then do whatever you want. Go ahead!”

Hearing that clean, confident answer, the center director shook his head. Behind his retreating figure, Director So murmured quietly:

“You’ll be the one regretting it if you let her slip away....”

* * *

This place was a building in Yeoksam. The team had rented a large seminar hall and invited reporters. Today was the script reading for .

Actors, director, PD, CEO, cinematographer, scripter, assistant director, directing team, planning team—basically everyone involved in making the film was gathered.

“Today’s finally the day...!”

Seated in his spot, reporter Wi Jaehwi of Deduck.B naturally began searching for Han Yeoreum with his eyes.

‘There she is...!’

She was sitting at the far end, but closer to him because of that. Clutching the script, looking slightly tense, her hair tied back loosely.

‘Perfect.... I’ve never seen her with that hairstyle before....’

He resisted the urge to start clicking the camera. Yeoreum briefly looked up, and recognizing him, gave a small bow. He waved back.

Soon, the two lead actors and the director entered. A pleasant tension filled the room as the script reading was about to begin. Director Gong picked up the microphone.

Click-! Click-! Click-!

Reporters’ camera shutters exploded.

“Thank you for coming today. I’m Gong Mujin, director of . It’s nice to meet you.”

Starting with Director Gong, the lead actors greeted the room, followed by several familiar veteran actors. The last to speak was Han Yeoreum.

“Hello. I’m rookie actress Han Yeoreum. I will be playing Influencer 1.”

A light, pleasant voice. Wi Jaehwi pressed his camera shutter harder than ever.

Self-introductions ended, and the script reading truly began.

“No—listen. I ran around doing errands because of you, right? Then shouldn’t I give you a punch too?”

“Sorry, what?” 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

“Right. Errand run. Punch thrown. That’s fair. Right?”

The breezy, punchy lines unique to action films flew back and forth. Reporters chuckled at some of the exchanges.

‘Overall, the flow is fast.’

The two lead actors had excellent chemistry. Quick, no need to overthink. One swung fists; the other used his tongue like a blade.

‘This will do well. Obviously. It’ll surpass the previous film.’

Everyone seemed to agree; no one’s focus wavered as the actors read.

“Hey. I’m amazing, seriously. I got a follow-back, okay? From her! Check my follow list. See?”

At last, Yeoreum opened her mouth. Her voice was nothing like Pi Chaewon’s, nor like Jung Yeondu’s—excited, flustered, overflowing.

“That’s her, right? From . Her diction’s good.”

“Yeah. She’s good at this too.”

“Still, this kind of acting is easy. It’s not a serious drama.”

Reporters whispered. Regardless, Wi Jaehwi kept her tightly in his frame.

“Mm~! Me? Hoo.... Of course I got invited. A real invite! I’m not like those kids who break tables to get one. I’m totally posting a traffic-light video about it!”

Influencer 1 was the type you could recognize instantly without explanation—carefree, childish, reckless, yet strangely not hateable.

“Um, {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} excuse me... if you could just go easy on me once—”

“It’ll be fine. I’ll file insurance and a personal injury claim. And to stop you from trying anything clever—I’m telling you now, I’m a Korean police officer. An elite one.”

“Ah.... Y-yes.... I see....”

Her chemistry with the actor playing the elite detective was excellent. The back-and-forth was lively.

‘She looks like a puppy that’s trying to read the room... oh no....’

Her flustered reaction at causing a fender-bender with her dad’s car was perfectly portrayed. Wi Jaehwi desperately wanted to see this scene on a huge theater screen. Anticipation pulsed in his hands holding the camera.

[Refreshing action incoming! script reading on site]

[‘Fist First’ vs ‘Law First’ , Body-type Detective Kwak & Elite Detective Yoon’s chaotic buddy film]

[Just watching feels exhilarating! The cider-like story hitting theaters soon]

Articles about the script reading were uploaded in real time.

Han Yeoreum’s first supporting-role film. The action entertainment movie was now officially introduced to the public.

* * *

Today was finally Han Yeoreum’s first day of shooting.

This was Cheongdam-daero. A street lined with luxury brands so obvious you could tell just from the building exteriors. Yeoreum stood in front of the car wearing her prepared outfit.

“Just relax. Relax. Okay? Do what you usually do.”

Director Gong looked at Yeoreum. She was dressed perfectly for an influencer.

Sparkling nail parts adorned her ten fingers. Her eyelashes were drastically longer than usual. A bright-colored one-piece dress matched the character.

She looked exactly like the Influencer 1 he’d pictured.

“Yes! Understood.”

Yeoreum clenched her fists lightly. The staff watched her and murmured among themselves.

“That’s her, right? The one who made Director Gong rewrite the script.”

“Yeah. But will she do well? She barely had one little web drama.”

Yeoreum sat in the driver’s seat and fastened her seatbelt. While the camera angle was being checked, the staff continued talking.

“He auditioned her for over 30 minutes, didn’t he?”

“For a supporting role? That’s almost a first.”

“It is a first. Feel bad for the others who came to audition. It was basically pre-decided.”

had been wildly successful, but this was the film industry. Here, actors weren’t easily acknowledged as “actors.”

To them, a web drama wasn’t even counted as a real project—more like a kid’s video.

“We’ll see if she’s any good.”

Yeoreum’s face filled the monitor. A rookie’s excitement and nerves were plain as day.

Finally, everything was ready for the shoot.

“Okay, going for a take—!”

A still hush swept over the set.

“Ready, action!”

It was time for rookie Han Yeoreum to become Influencer 1.