Chapter 660

IP 85.152 couldn’t take her eyes off the screen even when the preview for Episode 2 of <Code Name: Time Seven> ended and the commercials began.

The lingering afterglow of witnessing a perfect performance.

That was what she was feeling. Her head was blank, her heart was pounding wildly, and her mouth was going bone-dry. The symptoms were no joke.

“What the....”

That was all IP 85.152 could say. Come to think of it, she had even stopped managing the <Code Name: Time Seven> gallery for a while so she could focus.

The immersion from Lia and the children’s escape, to the pastor’s rampage, to the transition from the child actors to the adults had been absolutely insane.

For a while, IP 85.152 just sat there in a daze, unable to do anything.

“No, this isn’t the time for that.”

Worried that the gallery might have turned into a complete mess, IP 85.152 immediately began monitoring it.

She wasn’t the only one overwhelmed with emotion. High-quality analysis posts were already pouring in one after another.

[Code Name: Time Seven Minor Gallery]

[Galdaeguk basically screamed THIS IS A CULT from the very beginning]

First of all the very first scene already establishes that it’s a cult because Protestant churches don’t put up statues... They just slap up a simple cross and that’s it If you’re not religious you might confuse it with a Catholic church and not notice, but this was already giving me bad vibes

And Protestant churches don’t have separate confession either. It’s a 1:1 Jesus-sorry system. You speak through prayer and receive answers through prayer

But Taeo said he had something to confess to the pastor, right? Seems like the pastor normally had the kids tell him secrets privately (probably another way to check them since it’d be hard to weed out every single bad specimen one by one) and called that confession

Some of the stuff the pastor said while holding Isaac is blatantly different from the Bible too

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God <this is Matthew 5:8

Genesis 6:5 is >The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time<... From this point onward he was basically screaming !!I AM A CULTIST!! through a megaphone T_T

And considering he specifically brought up the Apostle Paul, he must identify with him somehow, but Paul was personally called by Jesus and became someone who spread the Gospel. Apparently spreading the Gospel for this pastor means organ trafficking and drugs...

Holy water symbolizes purification and eternal life. Normally it’s purified water + salt, but since the pastor made his with ethanol, it feels like he was making a vow to completely wash away every last bad specimen and that’s fucking terrifying;

Anonymous (23.22) insane analysis upvoted

Anonymous (18.881) wow fuck seeing it all put together like this is creepy as hell lolol also impressive you caught all this

Anonymous (7.65) Galdaeguk is seriously fucking insane for subtly slipping in things religious people would immediately recognize lololol

IP 85.152 marveled at the meticulous analysis of details that someone nonreligious like her could never have noticed.

“Argh...! There were symbols like this? I had no idea...!”

IP 85.152 continued reading the analysis posts carefully.

[Found a few Biblical metaphors in Episode 1, kinda long]

What the number 30 means in the Bible

?It mainly symbolizes the age and time when public ministry begins and God’s calling is fulfilled; Jesus began his ministry at 30

Sion got killed on the night they played hide-and-seek (because when Taeo went there the next day nobody was there) and the pastor said his ministry was giving the organs of bad specimens to good specimens, so I think they deliberately had them count to 30 during hide-and-seek

Lia shouting 13 in the close-up

?This symbolizes rebellion and corruption, while 12 is a perfect number in the Bible. That’s why there are 12 Apostles, and the Last Supper had 13 people total including Jesus + the Apostles, so 13 is considered unlucky

The 3 stairs remaining before Taeo went down into the warehouse basement

?The number 3 in the Bible means resurrection and completion

The Trinity (Father, Son, Holy Spirit), plus Jesus resurrected three days after being crucified

I think it means Taeo is a perfected specimen just like the pastor said

That’s also why the pastor went to the warehouse at 3:13

It’s a combination of a perfect number and an ominous number

That whole creation being completed thing the pastor kept rambling to Taeo about—it’s from the Bible, the seven spiritual gifts in Isaiah 11:2-3 of the Old Testament. I think that’s why the title is Code Name: Time Seven

Long leaves

?I think they were trying to evoke the burning bush symbolizing the meeting between Moses and God. There are way too many trees with long leaves everywhere.. If it were another drama director maybe not, but Galdaeguk definitely likes putting meaning into things. Basically the burning bush in the Bible means that even through suffering God won’t abandon the Israelites, absolutely not, we’re going in together, salvation go<that kinda thing

They probably kept showing wild plants partly for the mise-en-scène, but I think it’s also foreshadowing the drugs + emphasizing the burning bush

Wild dog

?Wild dogs represent greed. They roam inside and outside the city in packs and devour rotten meat and corpses They symbolize impurity, greed, judgment, corruption, and adversaries. Taeo chose to protect the children and stand against the dog instead of killing it, while the pastor killed it. Feels like this is the real difference between a genuine religious person and a cultist

Anonymous (1.23) fuck both the viewers and the director are educated perverts

Anonymous (2.22) nope I’m definitely watching the rerun I gotta rewatch this shit while waiting for the weekend

The rapidly climbing views and recommendations meant that there were quite a lot of drama fanatics who had flocked in because of Han Yeoreum’s reputation for reliable dramas, on top of the fans of the Ja Sokhwan Kids.

When IP 85.152 confirmed that the drama had already gained a core fandom from Episode 1, she was overwhelmed with emotion all over again.

It almost felt as though the sacred organ music she had heard at the end of Episode 1 was still ringing in her ears.

[No but I’m rereading the popular posts and every single analysis is fucking insane what is this]

Are you guys Galdaeguk

Anonymous (2.78) fr thanks so much for spoon-feeding us everything

Anonymous (1.223) counting on you guys from now on too us atheists will make screencaps so you guys write the analysis posts

Anonymous (8.235) I know strawberry trees but this is seriously the first time I’ve ever heard of a burning bush

[The surprisingly fucking detailed reason behind the directing]

Today’s TMI: Ma Eungyo is a pastor’s son

Anonymous (2.78) fuck but the friendly fire LMAO

Anonymous (4.2) no wonder he knows this shit so fucking well;

After confirming that the gallery was running actively, Ma Eungyo went onto Tritter.

Since it was the place that reacted fastest to the latest trends, screenshots from <Code Name: Time Seven> had already been uploaded, along with clips.

Kim Nobody @kimanydog

Galdaeguk: hey I’m a little mentally unstable hope that’s okay-

Viewers: Oh yeah yeah??go right ahead

Galdaeguk: puppy kill Nazi-era eugenicist hype-up insane pastor father children and villagers genuinely playing a life-or-death game of tag organ sacrifices drug evangelism arson explosion last survivor

Viewers: that’s a slightly different level

11K Retrits 17K Likes

?fuck what the hell did I just watch

?why did you kill the puppy Galdaeguk you fucking bastard seriously

?Do you not see that the children died? You are a psychopath

Ppongdang @pppongdang___e

Ja Sokhwan Kids indeed instead of disappointing us from episode 1 they’re already spreading mental illness at full blast LMAOO

4,321 Retrits 7,291 Likes

?continuing the Korean massacre-ending tradition ????

?Taeo becoming a fucking lunatic was just his destiny

Sophisticated mise-en-scène. Sound effects made even more horrifying by their sacred quality. And most importantly.

[Drama Movie Actor TALK/ if it’s a cult that operates even overseas it’d be fucking hard as hell to catch them so I’m even more excited TT_TT]

Wonder how well the Russia location shoot turned out.. I’m going crazy

Anticipation for the story to come.

<Code Name: Time Seven> received an explosive response the moment Episode 1 aired.

IP 85.152 could tell instinctively.

‘With this much stuff to analyze, if they don’t release the episodes on OTT in real time....’

Drama fanatics who watched the same episode several times would definitely tune in for the reruns, and even ordinary viewers would find themselves unable to escape once they watched it even once.

That made it the perfect work to grab viewers who faithfully watched <Class 1-1> and <Assistant Manager Kim’s Survival Story> by the collar and drag them over.

The uniquely heavy sense of immersion that <Code Name: Time Seven> possessed.

The moment you stepped into it, the exit slammed shut behind you.

If Han Yeoreum would just appear in Episode 2, they could immediately grab the viewers by the ankles.

* * *

Plant a psychopath, and a psychopath will inevitably sprout.

[HOW WAS IT!!!]

“I don’t really know myself, but apparently other people look at my screenplay and call it literature? Art? Something like that. They said they’re excited because it portrayed the characters with an unusually sophisticated touch right from Episode 1.”

While the viewers’ hearts ached for Taeo, Ma Eungyo and Galdaeguk stared at Ja Sokhwan with sparkling eyes.

Having just watched Episode 1 of <Code Name: Time Seven> with them, Ja Sokhwan smiled in satisfaction.

“It’s fun.”

The composition of the shots, the directing, the immersive way the story was carried forward—there wasn’t a single thing he could criticize.

But there was one disappointing point.

“The ratings will probably be a little lower.”

They would fall short of what the KBC director and the general public were expecting.

[Drama Movie Actor TALK/ isn’t it gonna break 10% from episode 1 lololol]

[Drama Movie Actor TALK/ Code Time Seven is definitely gonna crush them right from episode 1]

[Drama Movie Actor TALK/ feels like they’re gonna establish ratings dominance hard from the start T_T]

Knowing the reason, Galdaeguk and Ma Eungyo nodded.

[PROBABLY!!!]

“We couldn’t help it if we wanted to build the narrative properly and get people emotionally invested.”

Ordinary members of the ‘general public’ who weren’t drama fanatics or fans of the Ja Sokhwan Kids would change the channel to watch the dramas they had already been watching.

Because.

“Melon Bread doesn’t appear.”

That was right. If a new drama featured nothing but children, ordinary viewers were bound to lose interest.

* * *

“Director! The ratings are out!”

The KBC director humbly accepted the report card.

“Ja-psychopath was right....”

[Class 1-1] Episode 3 — 8.1%

[Assistant Manager Kim’s Survival Story] Episode 3 — 7.5%

[Code Name: Time Seven] Episode 1 — 7.3%

Among the premiere ratings of the three shows, it was the highest, but judging by the current scores, it was the lowest.

That was because of the directing choice to fill the entire first episode with child actors.

These days, dramas generally cut child-actor portions aggressively from the very first episode, or compress the relationships into around ten minutes at most.

The public no longer waited for build-up.

It was the age of ultra-short-form content. People accustomed to thirty-second videos had begun finding long videos boring. It was an era where stories had to be fast, provocative, and entertaining to survive.

<Code Name: Time Seven> was a work that could only have come from the Ja Sokhwan crew, who stubbornly insisted on serious drama.

Viewers who had tuned in because they were interested in a Han Yeoreum drama or a work by the Ja Sokhwan Kids had probably failed to wait through the build-up and dropped out, creating a considerable spillover effect toward <Assistant Manager Kim’s Survival Story> and <Class 1-1>.

The KBC director tossed away the sheet with the ratings written on it.

“Whatever.”

He had something he trusted.

“We really get started from Episode 2.”

Because starting today, Han Yeoreum would finally begin appearing in earnest.

The KBC Drama Director made a prediction. Ten minutes after the broadcast began. Immediately after Han Yeoreum showed her face.

That would be the moment the ratings peaked.

* * *

[HOT/ Current brutal Wed-Thurs drama ratings battle.jpg]

(ratings comparison chart.jpg)

Class 1-1 in 1st place

Guess they were right when they said a work follows its title lololol

-Anonymous 1: Class 1-1 is seriously fucking fun it’s not just some college-admissions mental-breakdown drama it’s got all the schemes and mind games

?Anonymous 6: pls air today’s episode already...T_T the performance assessment is so fucking frustrating

-Anonymous 12: Code Time Seven is a little lower than I expected

-Anonymous 18: I’m serious they better not make Han Yohan do romance

-Anonymous 25: Assistant Manager Kim’s Survival Story is truly a must-watch if you’re an office worker

?Anonymous 42: 2222 absolutely if you’re an office worker

-Anonymous 56: if you compare premiere ratings Code Time Seven is #1 though lolol T_T and it’s obvious you’re talking without watching it Han Yohan appeared for like 10 seconds yesterday so why are you already saying he shouldn’t do romance

?Anonymous 81: just leave them alone they apparently just wanna yap lolol;

The Management H division head was pleased that their side still had the upper hand even after <Code Name: Time Seven> aired its premiere.

“See? I told you I’d be first.”

The timing simply hadn’t lined up until now. This was finally his opportunity to prove that he was a better working-level executive than Jegal Rok.

“And today is Episode 4.”

The ending of Episode 4 was more important than anything else.

It was the point where you threw out a powerful message that gave viewers a reason to watch the drama all the way to the end and locked them in.

Conveniently, <Code Name: Time Seven> had already stumbled by filling its entire first episode with child actors, so the chances of existing viewers following it over to OTT had fallen.

“We lock in our existing viewers! Then bring in new viewers through OTT!”

And TV in was preferred over NetHolics as an OTT service to watch while eating.

It carried an unprecedentedly successful sitcom and variety shows. If things continued this way, <Class 1-1> would win decisively.

“Yeah, it’s me. Let’s really cement the Baby Morning Bread image.”

The ending scene of Episode 4 of <Class 1-1> today would be the leaking of exam papers. It was the most provocative subject matter an admissions-war drama could pull out.

* * *

“Second place. Not bad.”

Like the elite he was, the SBC Drama Director analyzed the situation.

Fortunately, Episode 1 of <Code Name: Time Seven> hadn’t swept across every demographic with the overwhelming force he had expected.

Compared to <The Great Garland>, which had driven the entire country crazy the moment it aired, this was nothing. Even compared to the nightmare of the Actress Holy Grail War, things were manageable.

The nightmare flashed through the SBC Drama Center Director’s mind again, but like the elite he was, he shook off the trauma.

“We have a chance.”

He could see hope that they could actually win.

And today was Episode 4.

Today was the scene where Goo Minho accidentally discovered the true identity of Noh Seungchan, the loser who had actually been hiding his strength.

The beginning of the buddy story.

How would two people who seemed utterly incompatible learn to work together?

The anticipation surrounding the completely chemistry-free pairing of an ordinary assistant manager and an extraordinary undercover rookie would keep viewers glued to the screen.

* * *

“Please win....”

“Please, Heo Haena....”

“Please come in first....”

And at that very moment, there were people clasping their hands together and sincerely, desperately cheering for Heo Haena.

Their desperate prayers seemed almost capable of reaching the heavens.

“Baby Morning Bread...!”

That was how much sincerity filled their hearts.

“We believe in you!”