The Legend of Kitchen Soldier is proving that a successful live-action adaptation can send fans racing back to the original source material. Since the series premiered in Korea on May 11 on TVING, views of the original web novel have skyrocketed by 170 times compared to the week before the teaser video rolled out. The webtoon adaptation saw similarly explosive growth, jumping 61-fold over the same period.

The story, created by writer JRobin and artist Jin-soo Lee, follows Kang, a conscripted soldier who discovers an unexpected talent in the army kitchen. Armed with a kitchen knife instead of a rifle, he levels up through increasingly bizarre culinary challenges in a game-like progression toward becoming a legendary mess hall chef.

Ji-hoon Park carries the live-action adaptation in the lead role. The actor has built momentum in Korean entertainment recently, earning recognition for his role in the webtoon-based live-action series Weak Hero and the film The King's Warden, which drew over 16 million viewers domestically.

This surge in readership reflects a well-established pattern in the industry: when a live-action project gains traction, audiences often track down the original work to compare or continue the story. It's a win for both the live-action production and the original creators, as increased interest can lead to better licensing opportunities and expanded translations.

For North American viewers, the live-action series is available on Rakuten Viki, making it accessible beyond Korea. However, neither the web novel nor the webtoon currently have official English releases, which means international fans interested in the source material are out of luck for now—though the spike in readership could potentially spark interest from publishers looking to bring the story to English-speaking audiences.

The Legend of Kitchen Soldier joins a growing list of Korean webtoon properties finding success in live-action format, proving there's still considerable audience appetite for adapting digital comics into filmed entertainment.