I'm an Unknown Actress, But Everyone Knows Me

Aetami could tell from the font plastered on the thumbnail alone that this was no ordinary production.

“...What is this quality?”

In that instant, Aetami realized it. Who had handled the production, the investment, the distribution. This was the result of JC ENM’s seasoned know-how, honed through years of music programs, shining through in every detail. It was, quite frankly, moving.

“Perfect....”

Now, a question.

Between a company that churns out official merchandise several times a month like a factory, ruthlessly draining otaku wallets, and a company that may or may not release merch just once a year, carefully protecting those same wallets—

Which one would you resent more?

“Take all my money—!”

In Aetami’s case, it was the latter.

Idol fans drowning in concerts, fan signings, and official merch. Theater and musical fans buying tickets over and over again, crying every time about being broke. Watching all that, actor fans shed tears of their own.

“Finally....”

Because actor fans always had to wait and wait, never knowing if they’d even get to see their actor in a single project that year.

“Yeoreum’s first merch....”

Aetami, the thirstiest for crumbs out of the three, clamped a hand over her mouth and scrolled down the funding page.

“This is completely different from what we could buy before, isn’t it?”

Her heart pounded. Until now, all she’d ever been able to buy were the once-a-year season’s greetings, the occasional—very occasional—magazine with a pictorial shoot, or trivial scraps from interviews like “the perfume she uses often.”

▶︎Running time

Main feature approx. 120 minutes / Bonus footage 180 minutes

▶︎Contents

DISC 2 + on-site photo book + full-episode script book + unreleased photo cards + student ID photo + name tag + melon soda keyring....

“What is going on? Why is this so generous? And this totally has that idol-kit vibe, doesn’t it?”

Her mouth, which had fallen open at the page quality and merch design, refused to close. Even the 구성 was absurdly generous. Aetami stared at the unreleased selfie photo cards and covered her mouth again.

“This is it....”

They were lightly blurred, but you could tell at a glance—the unmistakable feel of a default camera, no beauty app filters. Whoever was in charge of the funding really knew what they were doing.

“This is the kind of thing people would want to own even if they weren’t hardcore fans.”

Aetami checked the rapidly climbing funding amount. Proof that she hadn’t been the only one refreshing the page nonstop.

“Yeah. If the Blu-ray’s around 60,000 won, you just buy it. No thinking.”

With its much shorter runtime compared to standard dramas, the Blu-ray price was reasonable too. Aetami clicked the highest tier and immediately joined the funding.

“At this speed! It’ll hit 100 percent within a week, easy!”

Using the big data she’d built up over time, Aetami predicted the future. And more often than not, the things she felt certain about turned out to be right.

* * *

“This is it—! This is it, this is it!”

Manager Ma couldn’t contain his excitement and jumped up, swinging his fist in the air. Calling this a success didn’t even begin to cover it. This was a smashing, overwhelming success.

“100 percent in less than a week!”

The Blu-ray was sitting at number one on the funding site.

Breaking the prejudice that web dramas couldn’t produce Blu-rays, opening up an entirely new market—the thrill of it was unreal.

Drama-fan accounts were buzzing with talk about this Blu-ray too.

Haru @Haru1daily

(ParCheHi funding page capture.jpg)

Actor agencies that put out merch with zero aesthetic sense need to reflect. I condemn the act of making trash-tier merch with blind faith in face value. I condemn it.

RT 7.8K Likes 10K

It wasn’t quality anyone actually wanted to pay that much ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) for, but otaku who’d opened their wallets in tears because their favorite was effectively being held hostage were unanimously praising the funding page.

“That’s right! Who do you think I am—Ma Suyeon!”

It was the kind of quality that made you stop scrolling even if you hadn’t meant to.

“It’s still a time when actor fandoms aren’t overwhelmingly strong among the general public. That’s exactly why this works even better!”

Ma Suyeon had branded Han Yeoreum by cherry-picking the best parts of idol culture. And the most useful of all was merchandise culture.

“This is the age of mega-SNS.”

You photograph your new clothes. You photograph the food that just came out. You photograph the places you go.

“Everyone lives glued to their phones all day.”

The proportion of overseas travelers had risen by 20% compared to last year. Clothing consumption per capita had increased by 700 billion won.

And most importantly, the K-POP goods market had grown from 75 billion won to 100 billion won. It kept expanding every single day.

From all of this, Manager Ma read the trend—and how Han Yeoreum should be grown within it.

“It’s obvious!”

This was an age obsessed with consumption. An age that wanted to buy something, anything. An age where all you had to do was unlock your phone and the product would arrive the very next day. It wasn’t just markets that were easy to grow—celebrities were even easier.

“A so-called storm~ is going~ to come~.”

Humming to himself, Manager Ma scrolled down the funding page. Burning his soul had been worth it. Even people who weren’t die-hard fans would want to buy it just because they’d enjoyed it. The scroll kept going.

–Chocolat has joined the [Basic] funding with 66,000 won

–Rune has joined the [Standard] funding with 79,800 won

–SugarSugarSugar has joined the [Special] funding with 100,000 won

This industry seemed emotional, but at times it was brutally rational. The strongest yardstick was always visible numbers.

had hit ten million views. Its mass appeal had been acknowledged. But that wasn’t enough. It had to go one step further.

▶︎Project heroine

The Cherry on the Parfait Belongs to the Heroine

230% achieved

Like this.

Han Yeoreum became someone who sold a drama Blu-ray—something supposedly only “real drama nerds” bought—to the general public at 230%.

As the Intube scene continued to grow, threatening the influence of TV, MBS had already tasted that danger firsthand through early cancellations.

“Yeoreum~ will be the starting point of that storm.”

From here on out, in earnest—

Viewers would start leaving in droves.

“Dramas? I don’t watch them.”

Soon, there would be more people watching interesting videos whenever they wanted than people sitting down for dramas airing at fixed times.

“Movies? Even less.”

More people would lie in bed watching only the interesting parts and endings of movies than go out to crowded theaters.

“It can’t be helped~. It’s only~ natural~.”

The money was saying it all. Current broadcast advertising revenue: about 3.9 trillion won. Online advertising: about 3.6 trillion won.

The nearly neck-and-neck ad spend would soon be dominated several times over by the online market. The online market was destined to become a monster.

“It’s convenient. And it’s free.”

A time when the masses were scattered in all directions. But Manager Ma thought in reverse.

“If Intube took them, then we just take them back through Intube.”

He said it like it was nothing. It was simple. You just had to know why people were on Intube in the first place.

Because it’s convenient. And free.

Because they don’t want to spend time and money on something boring, only to regret it later.

“Then you just focus on regret.”

Other people’s verification through comments. Trendy visuals. Algorithms you see as you scroll. Solid acting skills. The subconscious memory of having enjoyed content Han Yeoreum appeared in—even without committing long hours to dramas or movies.

“It’s not hard to arrive at the answer that following Han Yeoreum means you won’t regret it, right?”

Affection turns into money. Curiosity turns into influence. High-level acting turns into masterpieces, and the public’s choices shape the flow of society.

“And if one person holds all of that....”

If someone grasped something almost too much to handle?

That was what they called the top.

[Web drama gets a Blu-ray? breaks prejudice as funding surpasses 100 million won....]

As if to prove it, climbed to a level where its funding rivaled that of terrestrial dramas.