[HanCinema's News] "When the Phone Rings" Popularity Bleeds into Webnovel and Webtoon Views

The ongoing popularity of "When the Phone Rings" has caused a resurgence of interest both in the original webnovel on which the story is based as well as the ongoing webtoon adaptation. "When the Phone Rings" in serial drama has been a big hit worldwide, ranking fifth place among Netflix drama worldwide according to FlixPatrol and 19.4 million hours viewed in the last official weekly Netflix rankings. "When the Phone Rings" has maintained strong numbers despite preemptions last week.

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These preemptions may have inadvertently caused fans to seek out other ways of appreciating the story, although interest in the original version of "When the Phone Rings" has already experienced a huge surge since before the drama's premiere. According to Kakao, which hosts the webnovel and webtoon, the webnovel has had 5 times as many clicks and 14.6 times as much revenue than it did before the drama's premiere. It's now Kakao's number one webnovel.

Similarly strong numbers have also emerged for the new webtoon version, which started before the television drama and is not yet complete. It's earned 3.6 times as many clicks and 6.9 times as much revenue compared to before the drama's premiere, and is currently the second most popular romance webtoon on Kakao. These figures are based on the two weeks immediately before the drama's premiere compared to the two weeks after- November 8th-21st, and November 22nd-December 5th.

Synergy is often a strength with these sorts of adaptations. The original author of "When the Phone Rings" who goes by the pen name Dry Fish Woman recently claimed that Yoo Yeon-seok and Chae Soo-bin have 200% synchronization with the characters she wrote, describing Yoo Yoon-seok in particular as a man who acts cold so that his love for his wife isn't found out but whose true feelings can be seen in his eyes. The fifth episode of "When the Phone Rings" will premiere on December 13th.

Written by William Schwartz