Mr Mermaid | LK Adaptation

Chapter 12

Chapter 12: ~(@^_^@)~

After the editorial department ended their regular meeting, Lisa was notified that only one of her two manuscripts had been approved for publishing. The one that had been kicked back was the one on Jungkook.

"Why?" Lisa was very surprised.

"Because there isn't any news value," the other party replied.

Such a cursory explanation left Lisa feeling even more troubled. How could Jungkook have no news value? Could it be that she had taken the wrong approach in writing the article?

She wasn't thick-skinned enough to continue pestering the other for details, and when she asked Eunha, Eunha was unable to make things any clearer either. So, Lisa could only carry these dark and dejected feelings with her as she waited for the return of Teacher Taeyang.

In the late afternoon right before work let out, Teacher Taeyang returned to the agency to retrieve some things, only to see Lisa sitting at his work station, her face scrunched up like a steamed bun. Teacher Taeyang asked curiously, "Lisa, were you scolded by Director Yang Hyun Suk again?"

"No. Teacher Taeyang, I'd like to ask you a question." Lisa briefly recounted what had happened, as well as showing him the words of recommendation Eunha had written as proof that her manuscript was pretty good.

After listening to her story, Teacher Taeyang comforted her dismissively. "Who hasn't had some manuscripts get rejected as a reporter? Don't take it to heart."

But Lisa was stubborn. "I just want to know why."

Teacher Taeyang pulled up a chair to sit beside her and helped her to analyse the issue. "Lisa, firstly, the main reason this manuscript did not pass is that you've overestimated Jungkook's status. News is time-sensitive, and the effect of news is also time-sensitive. Indeed, Jungkook really did raise quite a bit of attention when he became champion of the national swimming championship, but it has already been a month since then. National-level swimming competitions can be held up to 4 times a year — the swimming championships is just one of those events. No matter how great someone performs in events like this, the end result is just a brief surge in popularity. It's wrong to think that a chance encounter with Jungkook is newsworthy enough for a standalone article. Secondly, you've missed the main point. Jungkook is an athlete. Before he becomes a major superstar, the most valuable selling points on him can only be related to sports. For example, if you had managed to dig up the detailed reasons for his ban three years ago, then you would be able to use that as the main point for your news. But doing what you did — using what top scholar, motivational perspective as the focus of your article ... these are all things that are merely icing on the cake. If Jaehyun was a top scholar, then that news would have much greater potential. Jungkook still has not produced results as an athlete, so this sort of decorative piece is really not substantial enough. Do you understand?"

His words instantly enlightened Lisa. She scratched her head. "I understand now. It's all because Jungkook isn't famous enough, right?"

Teacher Taeyang nodded and said, "And one more thing — the recommendation Eunha wrote for you is also problematic. She may have written a lot of praises for you, but she is even more off-topic than you. You were originally already off-base, and her words of recommendation just pushed you even further away. It would have been a miracle if your manuscript was accepted."

Lisa bowed her head in thought. "Teacher Taeyang, I know how to fix this now."

"Hey, hey, hey," Teacher Taeyang looked at her is surprise, "I told you all this not to teach you to fix your manuscript. Don't think about fixing this manuscript anymore. It's pointless. Just save it in your hard drive for memory's sake."