“Finally, my first draft is done!”

I laughed as I held the script in my hand.

“I wrote it much faster than planned.”

While working as an assistant writer, I could only write around 1000 to 5000 words per day.

But now that I work alone, I've unlocked a new level of productivity. I manage to consistently write 10000-15000 words per day, a feat I never thought possible. 

‘Such insane productivity was unthinkable, so I brushed it off as a coincidence at first, but…‘

When such things have been happening for the past week, I can’t help but start to get excited about them.

‘What’s the cause?’

I thought about the reason why, and I realized something. The reason I wrote so slowly when I was working as an assistant writer was that most of my time wasn’t even spent on writing. To be precise, when I was working with others, I had to spend a lot of time communicating and researching, be it ideas, storyboards, or drafts. 

Think about it. People had to be on the same page before teamwork could succeed. If each individual had a different vision, then everything would be in chaos.

The problem was that Gu Gyuri needed a lot of convincing and research on my part before she would accept a single word from me. If my words were not backed by data, then that’s it. She would mock me as if I were a kid who knew nothing of the world and throw my opinion like trash.

“She must have significant trust issues. Keke, no wonder she’s an old maid.”

Even after entering her 40s, no man is willing to take her hand in marriage.

“Anyway, this is great.”

Now that I work alone, I realize that I have other strengths I can use against her.

And that is speed.

“And with this quality, I don’t think it would take a long time to edit either.”

Around 3 days. 7 at most.

That means I could write a good movie script every 10-14 days.

“This should be good enough to win a small to medium competition.”

However, there are a few drawbacks to entering small to medium-sized competition.

Not only were the monetary rewards small but the recognition and fame I could gain were also small. 

‘This is a problem, especially because fame was the thing I needed the most to succeed in this industry.’

After thinking for a bit, I chose to enter a large-scale competition instead.

“The larger the better.”

For a large competition, I probably need to improve my dialogue before I can win the grand prize, but I don’t know. I can’t be sure before I actually tried it. And since there’s nothing wrong with trying, I think I’ll just go ahead and submit this work to the largest competition I can find.

“Let’s see… What is the largest competition around this time?”

I used the school’s PC to search around the net.

And after 1 hour of surfing, I managed to find a competition that fit the bill.

Without further ado, I submitted my script via the internet.

After seeing the ‘thank you’ message confirming my submission, I leaned back on the chair and looked up at the clock hanging on the wall.

“There’s still time.”

There is not enough time for me to get into the zone and write, but it’s enough to do something with the school’s PC. Also, it’s a waste to go home right now. 

As I was thinking about what to do, an idea popped into my head.

“Why stop at writing contest? I can even submit this to companies.”

Unlike writing contests, which normally require participants to apply to only one competition at a time, there’s no such rule for submitting my script to production companies. So I can submit my script to many movie production companies at once to increase my chances of success.

“Great.”

This is a tip I heard from Ahn Noona. 

When applying for jobs, you should apply to as many as possible. This way, when some of them want to hire you, you can choose the best among them and have the negotiating power to discuss the terms of the contract.

“Of course, the kind of job Noona could get was limited. What company would hire a middle-school graduate when college graduates are growing like a mushroom?”

Fortunately, her current company treats her well compared to her qualifications.

“I know she deserves better though.”

Ability-wise, she can probably win against many fresh graduates, considering her work experience. But I can understand why companies would hire college graduates instead of those with ability. 

‘Because it’s easy.’ 

Judging someone’s ability from a piece of paper is as easy as judging a stranger you’ve just met. 

It doesn’t matter if the result is not the best. 

If it’s good enough, then why bother taking the harder path? It’s a human thing to want to take shortcuts every time we can.

“Ah, I got distracted.”

Anyway, I put my ideas into action and began to search the internet for movie production companies nearby.

In the end, I managed to write down the email and physical addresses of 50 movie production companies nearby, from Seoul to the city nearby. 

“What’s next?”

Well, now that I know their address, I thought that maybe I could submit my script by email or even by sending it directly to their company this weekend. It doesn’t matter whether these companies are looking for a script or not. If they don’t like the script, they can just throw it away. But if even a single one of them likes it…

“Then I might just achieve an overnight success. Kekeke.” 

This is an opportunity that I cannot miss.

Also, isn’t it normal for a salesman to knock on doors when selling things?

“From next week, I’m Salesman Duho.”

It was the moment when a legendary salesman from the Do family was born.

 

***

 

“Duho? Are you going somewhere?”

My lovely Noona asked me as I was carrying a bag filled with copies of my script.

I printed these babies using the printer at school for dirt cheap.

“Yes. For today and tomorrow. I will be going around Seoul.”

I have submitted my movie script to the largest competition I can find and, of course, to all 50 companies, also, albeit only through email. 

That alone might be lacking, so I thought I should at least show my sincerity by delivering these scripts directly to the movie companies, too, at least to those within Seoul.

“But why do you dress like that?”

“What do you mean? I need to dress like this if I don’t want to be treated like a kid.”

“Is that so…?”

It was when Ahn Noona looked at me with worry.

“Unnie, did you see my black sunglasses? It was a prop from the acting club.”

Eun was about to cling to Noona, but then she saw me and froze as if seeing a ghost.

“You… What are you doing?”

“Combing. Can’t you see?”

“No, that’s not it. Why are you wearing my black sunglasses? With an Aloha shirt on top of that.” 

“I’m pretending to be a foreigner from Hawaii.”

“No, why? Your face is Korean?”

“You shouldn’t judge a book by its cover.”

“Are you an idiot? Where did you even get that shirt from, anyway?”

“If you stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back at you.”

“So it was Dad’s keepsake. Ugh, he’s speaking nonsense but I can still understand him. What is this?”

“Must be because I’m your Oppa.”

“I don’t have an oppa like you!”

My little sister seems to be on her period today, too.

It’s an everyday thing, really. 

At this point, I would even believe it if someone told me Eun had a forever-on-period disease.

It sounds like an actual illness, so maybe?

“Anyway, how do I look?”

“You look like a scammer.”

“Close enough.”

I was aiming for a sales look, but surprisingly, this might work?

I mean, weren’t scammers the advanced job of salespeople? If this were an RPG, then I must be a high-level player who already had my second job change ahead of everyone else.

“Anyway, I better get going.”

I put on my shoes as the two murmured.

“Unnie, shouldn’t we stop him?”

“But… Surely, Duho has a plan? There must be a deep meaning behind it.”

“Trust me, Unnie. The only deep thing he has is stupidity.”

Keuk… To think that my little sister would call me stupid. This must be how a father feels when their daughter becomes rebellious.

I’m not angry, though. But I might as well use this as a justification to double my teasing when I get back.

“Anyway, I’m off, Noona, Eun. A hui hou~”

I said my goodbye like a true Hawaiian.

Seeing Eun’s shocked face, my pronunciation must be perfect.

Alright. Now, all that’s left is to hand out these scripts.

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