“We’ll probably have to launch ‘Rental Lover’ as well.”

At the words of Tom Cavill, Executive Director of Netflix Japan, about half of the team leaders were surprised, while the other half maintained indifferent expressions. Among them, one male employee spoke in Japanese.

“You’re thinking of bringing in a one-act drama...?”

Tom Cavill, who had shifted the leg he had crossed, let out a small sigh.

“If it caused a stir in Korea, then it’s not just a typical one-act drama.”

“Well, that’s true, but-”

“On top of that, if the female lead is the top actress Choi Rina, then ‘Rental Lover’ has already gone beyond being a simple one-act drama.”

“......”

All the employees slowly nodded. The mood was generally in agreement. Soon, one of the female employees chimed in.

“Come to think of it, isn’t there also a Korean drama starring Choi Rina in the rankings right now?”

“That’s right.”

It was a valid point. Currently, a mini-series with Choi Rina as the female lead was in the Netflix Japan rankings. Naturally, it was a Korean drama. It was a work from two years ago. And it wasn’t just that one. Recently, Korean dramas consistently appeared in the Netflix Japan rankings.

Even just looking at the top 10, up to five spots were sometimes occupied by Korean dramas or content.

Isn’t ‘Produce That 100!’ currently number one?

At this point, seeing Korean content on the Japanese Netflix rankings no longer felt strange. Japanese viewers consume Korean content as a matter of course. It wasn’t always like this. In the past, Japanese anime always dominated, and Japanese dramas or films took the lead.

Occasionally, foreign works including those from the United States would appear.

But now, Korean movies, dramas, and variety shows are dominating. Although Japanese anime still frequently appears in the rankings, the number of featured Korean contents is comparable. This proves how rapidly Korean culture is taking over Japan.

《Is Japan nothing without anime? The real reason Korean content completely overwhelmed it》

While Japan’s broadcasting and film industries try to resist the trend, everywhere else is already hugely influenced by the Korean Wave. The younger generation in Japan is extremely interested not only in Korean content but also in korean food, cosmetics, and more.

Especially, they are half-crazed over idols.

Now, Korean idols filling stadiums with tens of thousands of seats in Japan has become the norm. Yet even while knowing they’re being overrun, Japan cannot imitate Korean idols.

Because of a deeply entrenched system.

With things like this, the Executive Director of Netflix Japan had no hesitation in confirming the launch of ‘Produce That 100!’ during a past meeting with PD Woo Han-suk.

That same Executive Director now spoke.

“At the current pace, ‘Produce That 100!’ will stay at number one for a long time, and the impact from just one mention of ‘No. 1’ in a single episode is already this huge. Even just monitoring SNS shows that countless fans are demanding ‘Rental Lover’ be brought in.”

Of course, Executive Director Tom Cavill didn’t make the decision based solely on public reactions.

“And considering the current surge of the Korean Wave in Japan, and the continued number one ranking of ‘Produce That 100!’, if the popularity of the show and ‘No. 1’ holds, then ‘Rental Lover’ will surely perform well too.”

One male employee asked a question.

“What about checking the content of ‘Rental Lover’-”

“Of course, verification is necessary, but I’m confident it’ll be better than what’s coming out of Japan’s failing drama scene.”

Executive Director Tom Cavill was among those who thought Japanese films and dramas were deteriorating. However, he wasn’t one to only criticize, he wanted to encourage recovery. He hoped to identify problems and see improvement.

“Already, most Japanese films and dramas are just live-action versions of anime. The few pure contents that come out annually are too afraid of challenges, so only similar works get made. It’s disappointing. I’ll continue bringing in foreign content and achieving good results. Maybe then the market here, and its directors, might wake up.”

After a momentary lull in the atmosphere. Trying to lift the mood, the Executive Director smiled.

“Anyway, for us, not bringing in ‘Rental Lover’ now would be a foolish move.”

He gave instructions to the male team leader seated to his right.

“Get in touch with the ‘Produce That 100!’ and ‘Rental Lover’ teams. We’ll need to go to Korea as soon as possible.”

With arms crossed, he softly added.

“And if possible, I’d like to meet ‘No. 1’ too.”

At the same time, Korea. Paju Campus.

The ‘Produce That 100!’ campus felt quite empty now, with the number of surviving participants reduced to 24. Regardless, Kang Rojun was running according to his usual morning routine. He had started his Daily Mission.

What was unusual was.

“Huff- ugh-”

The participant following behind Rojun. It wasn’t someone from Room 105, just one person. No. 26, who had become his teammate the day before. He had come looking for him in the morning, saying he wanted to join at least once, and had tagged along. But now, his usual lifeless tone was nowhere to be found, and he was half-dying.

And they had only been running for 30 minutes.

Still, for his first time, he was keeping up reasonably well. When Kang Rojun looked back at No. 26, he of course felt nothing unusual.

‘He’s running better than I expected. I guess I can speed up a little.’

As the pace quickened, No. 26 gasped and panicked.

“Ugh- W-wait! What the hell. Are you a Terminator or something?”

Regardless of his cries, Kang Rojun began running twice as fast. Despair filled No. 26’s eyes, but he gritted his teeth. Giving up wasn’t in his nature. He somehow kept his legs moving and ran in a wobbling mess, and Rojun let out a chuckle as he glanced at him.

‘That stubbornness is just like the construction site uncles.’

Normally, quite a few participants joined Rojun’s workout routine. But the reason they were the only ones running now was simple. With only 24 participants left, and aside from Rojun and No. 26, the rest had been participating in team-specific rap training briefings since early morning an hour ago.

In short, the only ones left with free time at the campus right now were those two who had skipped the training.

About an hour later, Kang Rojun tilted his head and began cooling down. When he looked back, No. 26 was sprawled out on the ground, wheezing. Rojun walked over and asked.

“You still alive?”

Gasping, No. 26 answered harshly.

"I feel like I'm going to die, but I'm barely alive."

“What a shame.”

“What?”

“Just kidding.”

Kang Rojun held out his hand, and No. 26 struggled to his feet, resting his hands on his knees as he caught his breath.

"Huff- you do this hellish thing every day?"

“Yeah, every day.”

"......Doing exercise on top of having that face is too much. You'll someday get stoned by men."

“I’ve got pretty good reflexes too.”