Translator: Dreamscribe
Now, only Kang Woojin or Iyota Kiyoshi remained on the building rooftop. Despite someone having fallen, Woojin, expressionless, merely continued to stare at the spot he had been looking at.
“……”
The camera, slowly scanning from the side of Kang Woojin, finally reached his front. It slowly captured from Woojin’s chest up to his face. The current Kiyoshi was unnaturally stoic. His blinking was steady, and his breathing was calm.
Everything was empty and quiet.
Then,
– Swooosh.
Something white fluttered and fell between the camera and Kang Woojin.
“Hm?”
Woojin slowly lifted his head, and the camera belatedly followed. In the sky, the white gradually increased in number. It was snow. Oddly, despite the grotesque events in the fishing village, there was a spread of desolate beauty as the snow fell.
At that moment, Kang Woojin extended his right hand forward and dryly murmured,
“Did they say it was coming?”
The camera captured the snowflakes resting on his hand. Though it was artificial snow, the chill was felt by Kang Woojin, infused with the essence of Iyota Kiyoshi.
“Let’s go down.”
Mumbling to himself, Woojin turned around. His steps were ordinary, showing no hint of urgency. It was extraordinarily ordinary. The camera stepped back to capture his front view.
Here, Director Kyotaro called cut. The same scene was performed once more. After two takes, it was okayed, and after setting up below the building, the action resumed.
– Swoosh.
Kang Woojin had already left the building. He turned his head to the left.
“……”
His dry gaze fell upon a corpse soaked in blood. Woojin approached calmly. Not even his usual expressionless face was present; it was more like a void. In his eyes, the lifeless sprawled body was evident.
A homeless man. No, it was Misaki Shutoku.
The camera vividly captured the corpse with a shattered head.
Misaki Toka’s father. A year before starting his homework in earnest, Woojin had found him.
‘Hello, my name is Iyota Kiyoshi.’
Shutoku was living like an actual destitute. No different from being dead. After his daughter died, his wife succumbed to mental illness and died too. He had nothing left. He was nearly just a breathing doll.
Woojin temporarily breathed life into him.
‘Your daughter didn’t commit suicide. She was murdered.’
Woojin told him everything he knew. Everything his daughter had suffered. Shutoku was enraged, a reaction Kiyoshi had anticipated. Having gained a purpose, Shutoku extended his life, joining Kiyoshi.
And a few minutes ago, their journey together had ended.
Kiyoshi, or Woojin, gazed quietly at Shutoku’s body, which was covered in blood and gradually being covered by snow. Kang Woojin’s eyes had withered gaze.
Ah, I should have stopped him after all.
“There was no need for it to go this far.”
Actually, Kang Woojin had devised a scenario based on Shutoku being alive. He had clear plans on how to confuse the investigation and what instructions to give him. But now, there was no need to use them. As Woojin gazed down at Shutoku, who was getting cold by now.
“I want to cover up everything for you, but it’s going to be hard now.”
He spoke even though he knew there would be no answer.
“Because if I cover something up, it’ll be obvious that a third party was involved.”
“……”
Again, no answer. But as Woojin was turning away, he flinched. Shutoku’s voice, which shouldn’t have been heard, brushed past his ear.
‘Thank you, now you go on the path you have to go.’
This voice wasn’t actually heard on the scene. It would be added during editing, but at the moment, it was silent. However, the camera’s close-up captured Kang Woojin’s expression vividly. His face was stoic, his eyelids blinking calmly.
Even the faint shaking of soulless eyes.
Though his outward expression remained unchanged, the silent tremor within was clearly expressed. After about 5 seconds with no reaction, Woojin moved his feet again.
-Tap, tap.
The snowfall gradually intensified. Woojin stopped at the dock where two wooden boats were anchored. The camera captured his back. The other camera was filming Konakayama Ginzo, who was crouched naked inside one of the boats.
His eyes were wide open, but there was no movement.
Snow was accumulating on his entire naked body, marked with a strange scar around his neck. As Kang Woojin, looking down at Ginzo indifferently, took something out of his pocket.
– Swooosh.
It was a crumpled piece of paper. He unfolded it. Among the nine names written on the paper, he marked an X behind ‘Konakayama Ginzo.’
“Second one.”
Above Ginzo’s name was written ‘Horinochi Amie,’ a woman touched by the fragments of the firework known as Ginzo.
Quietly observing the names, Kang Woojin folded the paper again and slipped it back into his pocket.
“It’s cold.”
With a dry remark, he lifted his head to the sky. The camera slowly pulled back. The monitor showed Kang Woojin’s eerie back, the bright moonlight, and the swaying sea, all gradually obscured by the drifting snow.
It was a bizarrely beautiful scene.
Everything was displayed on the monitor. Next to Director Kyotaro, who was watching intently with a serious expression, Writer Akari, wearing a padded jacket, covered her mouth with both hands as she looked at the monitor, then slowly lifted her head to view Kang Woojin’s back in front of the monitor.
Iyota Kiyoshi. He was there, as if he were real.
She was beyond thrilled, almost to the point of fainting with excitement.
‘To be able to see something like this…’
It seemed like tears would pour out at any moment. The scenes her fans had imagined, the characters she had written were unfolding right before her eyes. It wasn’t merely a reenactment. It felt as though the world within the book had been plucked out and dropped into this place.
‘Brilliant, how could any writer not feel this? What if Woojin wasn’t Iyota Kiyoshi?’
When a writer’s work is adapted into a live-action, there are elements they have to let go of due to the thick wall of reality. However, Writer Akari decided to think of it as entering another world.
Here was the world of ‘The Eerie Sacrifice of a Stranger.’
And she grew ambitious.
‘Quickly—I want to show this to everyone who has read my writing as soon as possible.’
Kang Woojin had established the world of ‘The Eerie Sacrifice of a Stranger,’ and she wanted to show it to the readers. If the original author was this excited, imagine how the fans who loved the story would feel.
Director Kyotaro felt the same.
‘The acting… Woojin’s acting intensity has unbelievably increased. It was jaw-dropping during the script reading, but now, there’s an indescribable spirit involving emotional depth and flexibility.’
He focused on Kang Woojin’s acting as much as on directing.
‘He already has world-class skills, yet he keeps improving. It seems like his growth has no end.’
He felt relieved.
‘Who else could express this profound and emptiness-like murderous intent? Only Woojin can.’
And he speculated.
‘He’s literally a monster; his created character, Iyota Kiyoshi, will become a legend in Japanese cinema history.’
Silence fell across the entire set for a moment.
Kang Woojin looking up at the snowflakes stopped, as did the camera capturing his back and the dozens of staff members who simply gulped down their saliva. Even the lead actors who came to watch, despite no scene involving them, were simply observing Woojin’s performance.
“……”
“……”
The atmosphere was dignified and quiet, but the air was electric, almost suffocating, such was the intense level of the scene.
At that moment.
“Cut!!”
Director Kyotaro suddenly stood up and shouted energetically.
“OOOK!!!”
Naturally, it was okayed in one take.
30 minutes later.
The set around the dock of ‘The Eerie Sacrifice of a Stranger’ was being cleaned up. The time had passed 11 PM. It looked like the shooting for today was over, but tomorrow’s shooting was scheduled to start early in the morning. Thus, alongside cleaning, the dozens of staff members were also preparing for tomorrow.
Among them, the master director Kyotaro was going around, heaping praise on the actors.
The supporting actor who played the homeless person or ‘Misaki Shutoku’.
“Haha, you did a great job. The dialogue delivery on the rooftop was really good.”
“Thank you, Director~nim.”
Yasutaro, who played Ginzo.
“Ogimoto ssi, your performance in the latter half was the best. It was exactly the tone and acting I wanted.”
“Is, is that so?”
“Yes, it was the Ginzo both I and the writer wanted. id you suddenly have an awakening or something? Hahaha.”
“Oh, no, that’s not it!”
“You really worked hard. The corpse makeup and posture might be a bit challenging, but I’m counting on you again tomorrow morning.”
“Of course!”
Yasutaro, currently wearing a thick coat over his naked body, had his eyes full of ambition. It was a compliment from Kyotaro Tanoguchi, one of Japan’s greatest directors.
Soon, Director Kyotaro approached Kang Woojin, who was wearing a navy long-padding coat, talking with Choi Sung-gun.
“Woojin ssi.”
Upon hearing his name in Japanese, Woojin, with an indifferent face, turned his head. As soon as he recognized who it was, he softened his voice.
“Ah, Director~nim. You’ve worked hard.”
“What. You had the hardest time, Woojin. Your filming tomorrow starts in the afternoon. You can rest well.”
“Yes, Director~nim.”
Choi Sung-gun, who noticed their conversation, stepped back with Woojin’s team, including Han Ye-jung, and director Kyotaro, who had abruptly approached Kang Woojin, whose concept had deepened, smiled slightly.
“During the shooting, you gave some advice to Ogimoto ssi, right?”
He was referring to Yasutaro. To Director Kyotaro, it seemed like Yasutaro had awakened after Kang Woojin’s advice. Meanwhile, Woojin was puzzled by what Kyotaro meant. What had I advised? Then he remembered something he had advised Yasutaro about on the wooden boat regarding breathlessness.
I did tell him to take deep breaths?
‘Ah- that.’
Thinking that Kyotaro must have seen it on the monitor, Woojin readily nodded.
“Yes, that’s right. Because it looked dangerous.”
As expected! The smile on Director Kyotaro’s face grew broader.
“Thank you, an actor did what a director should have done.”
“Not at all. It’s better for anyone to say something before an accident happens.”
“Accident—yes, if we had continued, we might have had to stop today’s shooting.”
Hmm, if an actor had fainted, not just today but several days could have been affected, right? Woojin acknowledged and continued softly.
“I’m glad it was sorted out well.”
“That level of acting alone was enough, but I didn’t know you would take care of other actors’ conditions as well. Is this an unexpected side of you, Woojin? I guess you’r not all cold as you look from the outside. Anyway, thanks to you, Ogimoto ssi had an awakening in terms of acting. What advice did you give him?”
“I didn’t expect you to take care of another actor’s condition as well. Is this an unexpected side of you, Woojin? Thanks to you, Ogimoto ssi has awakened in his acting. What advice did you give?”
Huh? Acting awakening? Advice? Although it felt slightly off, Woojin responded vaguely.
“I just told him to breathe slowly.”
“Breathing. It must have been the perfect answer for the current Ogimoto ssi.”
Although they were talking about different things, strangely, there was no problem with the conversation, and around that time, Yasutaro, who had met the main cast of ‘The Eerie Sacrifice of a Stranger,’ was being bombarded with questions.
“Yasutaro, what did Kang Woojin do to you on the wooden boat? Your acting intensity changed suddenly after that.”
“Yeah, did Woojin give you some advice? What did he say—”
“Did he really teach you some acting skills?”
The handsome Yasutaro smiled and nodded.
“Yes, I was able to change because of his advice. After ‘The Eerie Sacrifice of a Stranger’ shooting ends… I’m thinking of going back to do theater.”
“What, what did you say?”
“I may finish filming in a few days, but everyone should be alert. Watching Woojin from afar and watching him up close are worlds apart. Forget that it’s acting, if you fall under the hypnotism of Kang Woojin, this place becomes the world of ‘The Eerie Sacrifice of a Stranger.’”
Yasutaro then declared to the remaining actors of ‘The Eerie Sacrifice of a Stranger.’
“You’ll have to engage in a bloody battle with the real monster called ‘Iyota Kiyoshi.’”
The next morning.
On the 21st, in Shin-Okubo, known as Korea Town in Japan, the explosion of the Korean Wave had brought an incredible crowd to the area, and it was now famous as a tourist destination in Japan. The streets were packed not only with Koreans and Japanese but also tourists from all over the world.
Amidst this, a group of foreigners was spotted at the window seat of a large cafe.
A woman with brown bob hair, a man with short orange hair, and a chubby man—three people in total. Among them, the woman with the brown bob hair had a face that wasn’t unfamiliar.
She was Megan Stone, who had been the casting director for Hollywood’s ‘Last Kill 3’.
She was the one who first relayed news about Kang Woojin to George Mendes, the director who resembled Santa Claus, and had also attended Woojin’s screen test with the famous producer, Joseph Felton. So, why was she suddenly in Japan?
It certainly wasn’t to see Kang Woojin.
Megan Stone’s team had been in Japan only to attend the ‘Tokyo International Short Film Festival’ that had ended a few days ago—a festival frequented by many from Hollywood annually. Simply put, it was for work.
Thus, her encounter with Kang Woojin in Japan was purely coincidental.
Regardless, Megan’s team was planning to leave Japan this afternoon, having finished the film festival and taken some rest. Currently, they were casually sightseeing around Tokyo. Naturally, the topic of their conversation was the ‘Tokyo International Short Film Festival’.
“It was a bit disappointing compared to what I expected.”
At the words of the chubby foreign man, the orange-haired man nodded his head.
“True. It was grandly held, but there wasn’t much to see. The actors we scouted weren’t impressive either.”
As their conversation in English continued, the nearby Japanese patrons occasionally glanced at them. Megan, brushing her brown bob hair aside, crossed her long legs.
“Kang Woojin was there, though.”
At the sudden mention of the Korean actor’s name, her teammates agreed.
“Who? Kang Woojin? Ah—right, that Korean actor.”
“Yes. I was surprised when he showed up at the closing party. Didn’t expect him to be in Japan, not Korea.”
Megan replied as she sipped her coffee.
“He must be here to shoot a film directed by Kyotaro Tanoguchi.”
“Oh—right, I remember seeing that when we were researching him. Seems like he’s doing well.”
Megan and her colleagues hadn’t paid much attention to Kang Woojin after the screen test for ‘Last Kill 3’. After all, the role Woojin auditioned for was minor and they were busy. However, Megan, as the leader of the team, was interested in Woojin.
“I’m curious.”
“About what?”
“About Kang Woojin.”
“Why?”
“There seems to be a noticeable change in him.”
A noteworthy mention would be that of Miley Cara recently. For some reason, she had met Kang Woojin during her visit to Korea, and even praised him highly on the ‘Jamie Show’. It was more than just polite compliments.
Furthermore.
‘And there’s Joseph Felton, he’s also taken an interest.’
Famous Hollywood producer Joseph also inquired about Kang Woojin after the test. He wanted a detailed report too. Why? Why would such figures have a great interest in a Korean actor?
‘Of course, I know he’s not ordinary.’
His filmography and the martial arts skills he demonstrated during the test speak for themselves. However, that alone seemed slightly insufficient. Thanks to that, Megan had done some searching about Kang Woojin after seeing him a few days ago.
There were numerous absurd articles.
It was the same in Korea, but coming to Japan for filming and suddenly making a bold declaration of war?
Therefore, Megan’s curiosity had peaked.
“Why are such big shots always hovering around Kang Woojin?”
The chubby man shrugged nonchalantly.
“There could be coincidences, but could it be because he has more than basic skills? In fact, the martial arts we saw during the test were amazing.”
“But we haven’t seen his acting.”
“Acting? Well. I’ve heard from Director George and others that after the test, many were so intimidated by his acting.”
Intimidated? Could that be true? Of course, at that time, it seemed utterly absurd that he would ‘drop’ ‘Last Kill 3’, and Megan thought similarly. Logically, one wouldn’t dismiss such an opportunity. But looking around now, the idea of being intimidated seemed odd.
For such a thing, Kang Woojin was too confident.
“…I guess I need to see for myself.”
At Megan’s murmuring, her team members furrowed their brows.
“See? See what?”
Holding her phone, Megan smiled at her team members.
“I’ll need to delay our departure for a few days.”
She then made a call somewhere.
*****
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