Chapter 3: Misunderstanding (3)
Translator: Dreamscribe
The middle-aged man with the goatee, or rather, Song Man-woo, a veteran drama PD at SBC, had an excellent eye for actors. He was even quite demanding.
He had the credentials for it.
After all, he had been directing for nearly 20 years in the drama field. He produced at least 15 works, many of which were hits. When he first received a request to be a judge for the first round of “Super Actor” auditions, he had no high expectations.
At most, only one or two people would be worth seeing out of 1,000.
Even those would probably be no different than trash on the market. Just as he thought, the first contestant was a disaster. That contestant was Kang Woojin.
Song Man-woo’s first impression of Woojin was,
‘His face looks like a screw is missing.’
He looked stupid. As if to confirm this, the top actress Hong Hye-yeon sitting on his left said,
“PD, doesn’t he seem a bit dim-witted?”
The casting director from a well-known production company, sitting on his right, shared a similar impression.
“I agree. It seems tough from the start.”
Kang Woojin seemed spiritless. Song Man-woo saw him as lifeless. His acting would probably be meaningless.
Moreover,
“Excuse me, sir. Can I have a moment?”
The whispering of the main PD of ‘Super Actor,’ a female PD with short hair, amplified Song Man-woo’s sigh.
“That person is not an official participant. He just came with a friend, and the friend is currently in the restroom.”
“So?”
“If the first participant gets eliminated, the atmosphere won’t be good from the start. So, why don’t we just let him act for a bit to kill some time?”
“Killing time?”
“Yes. If we could even capture a gag cut, it would be nice. After all, we do need some material for the YouTube previews or teasers.”
In other words, the idiot wasn’t even an official participant.
“So you want to use him as bait for hooking?”
“Ah- bait is a bit harsh. Just let’s give it a try.”
“······Well, as the main PD, it’s your call. But you should definitely ask for his consent, right?”
“Of course, it’s not like we’re in the old days.”
Kang Woojin, an ordinary person, or a sacrifice for hooking. That was the conclusion drawn by the three judges, including Song Man-woo PD. And so, Kang Woojin’s acting began.
The atmosphere drastically changed within just 5 seconds.
“Huh! Cough!”
The loose-screwed Kang Woojin struck shock into Song Man-woo PD’s face. Actress Hong Hye Yeon’s expression was worth seeing too.
And then one minute passed.
Suddenly, everyone in the room was frozen. Not only the judges watching Woojin, who was desperately sobbing on the floor, but all ten or so ‘Super Actor’ staff members as well.
The impact of Kang Woojin’s acting was just that strong.
In just one minute, he captivated the veteran eyes present.
“Ugh! Huhu-”
It was realistic, vivid, and intense. Even without looking at the script, they could tell that Kang Woojin was in a forest and was being chased by a strange man.
Seeing this right in front of his eyes, Song Man-woo PD thought,
‘This is not just a matter of good luck or talent. This is something that has been honed for at least 5 years. Perhaps even 10.’
He overturned the evaluation of Kang Woojin. It was a skill that even top actors who make a living from acting could not easily master.
“Emotions become attitudes, feelings become postures.”
“Worries become expressions, and smells become delusions.”
All of these mix together to create the expression of a character, and this expression that came out with difficulty must be chewed thoroughly in the mouth for a single appropriate line to be spit out.
You must repeat this process endlessly to barely capture a single cut.
Many actors currently in the country stake their lives on this process. Even top stars and veteran actors who are hailed as the best.
And yet he,
“Is he implementing it after briefly looking at the script?”
Kang Woojin is doing it effortlessly. It was not at the level of just being good at acting. Woojin was just a character in the script right now. But the shock did not end there. It was because of Kang Woojin’s calm answer to the question.
“I am self-taught.”
Self-taught? He acquired such insane acting through self-study?
‘Just how lonely a journey has he been on?’
In this way, Kang Woojin stunned everyone, including top actresses, veteran drama PDs, and other staff members present.
-Silence
He calmly left the room. There was no one to stop him. Everyone just had dumbfounded expressions.
After this.
“I’m, I’m sorry!!”
The actual first contestant, Kang Woojin’s friend, entered. It was Kim Dae-young, who typically wore an arrogant expression, but now had a guilty look on his face, and as soon as he saw him, the first question from PD Song Man-woo was this.
“The friend who came with you. What’s their job?”
“…Excuse me? Ah, he works in design. Why are you asking?”
“Continue?”
“Yes, has been doing design only…”
All the answers Kang Woojin gave were proven to be true. And being self-taught too. Song Man-woo had a feeling that Kang Woojin was an unknown, hidden master in the industry.
“Understood, Mr. Kim Dae-young. Let’s start with your acting.”
He turned his gaze to Kim Dae-young.
“Yes!”
However, unfortunately, Kim Dae-young’s acting…
“Cut. That’s enough. Thank you for your effort.”
The curtain fell in just 15 seconds.
10 minutes later, the bus stop in front of the SBC headquarters Arts Center.
There was quite a crowd gathered around, including family and friends who had come for today’s preliminary match. Among them was Kang Woojin, who seemed to have fled from the Arts Center.
“Ah… shit.”
Sitting on the bus stop chair, he was pressing his temples hard. He had a headache, but he was also processing the shocking event that had just happened.
‘Something black and square appeared next to the script, right? When I pressed it, I was sucked into a strange space.’
An endlessly dark void.
‘I had the script I received floating in that damn place, and when I pressed on it… I was suddenly transported to a crazy forest. I definitely died there, didn’t I?’
It was certain. Kang Woo-jin had died once in that dark and gloomy mountain. By a strange man with a black face. It wasn’t a vague thing like imagination, dream, or memory.
He had clearly experienced his body being transported and experienced it firsthand.
In fact, it still felt vivid. It seemed as though he could show the emotions, the image of that moment in the woods at any time. It felt like it had taken root deep within him.
‘This feels like I’ve actually time traveled or something?’
What on earth was that cursed space? How could it make a perfectly fine person experience death?
“Is that even possible?”
Just then.
-Beep, beep.
Woojin’s phone in his pocket vibrated. It was a call from Kim Dae-young.
Five minutes had passed since then.
From a distance, Kim Dae-young came running energetically.
“Hey, hey! Kang Woo-jin!”
As soon as he saw his friend who had arrived, Kang Woojin immediately grabbed him by the collar.
“You crazy bastard! Did you go to take a shit or to save the country?”
“···Ha ha ha! Sorry about that. Seriously, it just kept on coming. I really thought I was going to die.”
“Shut up. I really died because of you.”
“What?”
Kim Dae-young looked puzzled, but soon, Woojin let go of the collar he had grabbed, exhaling a long sigh.
“Anyway, what about the preliminary round?”
“Oh, right. I did it. Oh! By the way, did you go in for me?”
“Why?”
“The judges kept asking about you. What’s with you, what did you do in there?”
Recalling the embarrassment from earlier, Woo-jin quickly changed the subject.
“Tsk, I didn’t do much. So, did you pass?”
“No? they cut my acting after 15-second. So I’m out.”
“Congratulations, you crazy bastard.”
“I don’t care. I didn’t have any big expectations anyway. By the way, did you see Hong Hye-yeon? Did you see her? Wasn’t she amazing?”
At the mention of the top actress’s name, a sincere expression appeared on Kang Woojin’s face.
“She’s like an angel. No, she really is an angel.”
“How can a person be that beautiful? I couldn’t help but curse because of her beauty.”
“I agree. When will we ever get to see Hong Hye-yeon so up close again in our lives? I even got to talk to her.”
“I probably won’t see her again, but I think I’ll remember this time for a lifetime.”
“Yes. Seeing Hong Hye-yeon today was good, everything else was like trash.”
Then.
-Swoosh.
Woojin saw a piece of paper tucked into Dae-young’s side that caught his eye. It was the 3-page script he had seen before. He stared at that script and suddenly reached out his hand.
“Hey, give me that script.”
“Huh? Oh, yeah.”
The script in Kim Dae-young’s hand was just a script. There was nothing different about it. However, as soon as the script moved into Kang Woo-jin’s hands, the situation changed.
‘Ah- damn it.’
A black square that hadn’t been there before appeared next to the script. It was in a form that swirled in shades of gray and black, looking like a shadow of the script.
‘Am going crazy again? seriously.’
Whatever happened, the black square appeared just like before. Which means, if he touches it with his index finger, he’ll be sucked into that crazy space. But it didn’t seem like he was in the mood for that now.
-Flap.
Kang Woo-jin, with an impassive face, opened the script. Technically, it was his first time reading it. And as soon as he read the first line of the script, Woojin was certain.
‘Just as I thought. This is the same… as what I experienced.’
The content of the script and what Kang Woo-jin had experienced in the forest were the same.
A terrified man in a brown windbreaker, his emotions, feelings, the appearance of an unclear stranger, in the woods, rustling fallen leaves, a dreary wind, being stabbed by something, the screams of the terrified man, begging for life, getting stabbed again, etc.
‘I chose Terrified man, right? So in the end – the role and situation in the script become me…’
Who would believe such crazy talk? But Woojin was sure. So, for now.
‘I need to verify a few things.’
He had to experiment with it again just to be sure. Then decide whether to ignore it or not.
Soon.
“Hey.”
Kang Woojin, who turned his head, asked Kim Daeyoung, who was looking at him strangely.
“Your house is in Pangyo, right?”
“Yeah. Why are you suddenly asking about my house?”
“Do you have any scripts at home? Preferably recent ones. Type doesn’t matter.”
“······ I do have some. They’ve come in one way or another. But why the sudden interest in scripts? You hardly even watch TV.”
“Nevermind.”
Woo-jin pulled out his phone and opened a taxi app.
“Let’s go to your house right now.”
About two hours later. Kim Dae-young’s house.
Kim Dae-young lived with his parents in an apartment near Pangyo Station. However, his parents weren’t home at the moment, and Woo-jin immediately entered Kim Dae-young’s room.
Immediately, Kang Woo-jin frowned.
“Wow- Do you even shit in your sleep? What’s with this stench?”
Some kind of pungent smell wafted through the air. However, Kim Dae-young shrugged his shoulders as if it was no big deal.
“This is how a man’s room is supposed to smell. It’s abnormal that your house smells nice.”
“Bullshit. Open the window for some fresh air.”
Kim Dae-young opened the windows immediately. Then, Kang Woo-jin reached out his hand to Kim Dae-young.
“The script?”
“Ah, just a moment. Let me find the recent one- the one I’ve read are somewhere here.”
Soon, Kim Dae-young began rummaging through the bookshelf. Woo-jin watched him with slight contempt, and it was 3 minutes later when Kim Dae-young showed him the script.
“I found it. Two drama scripts and one movie scenario. Is 3 enough?”
“Yeah.”
Two neatly bound scripts, and a pile of paper that was a movie scenario. A total of three were handed over to Kang Woojin. And then.
‘Just as I thought.’
Black rectangles appeared next to the two scripts and the scenario. The size was slightly different for each. Anyhow, here Woo-jin finished his first confirmation and sighed deeply.
“Phew-”
He checked the current time. It was 11:41 AM. Woo-jin tapped the air with his slightly trembling index finger, and Kim Daeyoung, who was sitting in front of him, chuckled.
“Have you finally lost it? What are you doing?”
Kang Woo-jin seriously replied to his friend.
“Just watch. Okay?”
“I’m watching.”
At this moment.
-Poof!
Woo-jin’s index finger poked one of the black rectangles, which was one of the book scripts. Then.
“Eek!”
With a feeling that his whole body was going numb, the void pulled Woo-jin, and for a moment he let out an absurd chuckle.
“I’m back here again.”
Before he knew it, all he could see in his sight was an endlessly dark space. He entered again, into this space he didn’t even know what it was. The feeling of being adrift was the same.
However.
“Let’s see-”
Perhaps because he had experienced it once before, Woojin was rather calm now. He had gained a bit of composure. Yet, his fear and terror remained. But Kang Woojin had to compose himself.
-Whoosh.
He turned his body to check the back. There it was – a white square floating at about his chest height. What was interesting was,
“Has it increased?”
There was a change from before. The point that there was not one white square but two.
In other words.
“It seems that they keep adding up.”
It meant that the number increased as he acquired a new script or scenario. He hadn’t checked it up close yet, but the second white square was most likely the book script that Kang Woojin had just touched.
However, Woojin didn’t approach the floating white square.
“Then, first of all.”
There was another experiment to conduct first.
“Leave!”
He shouted loudly, but there was no change.
“Out! Logout! Outside!”
Kang Woojin continued to yell other similar words.
“Go back! Hey! Lady! Let me out! Turn off!”
About 5 minutes had passed in this way.
At that moment.
“Ahh- shit! Exit!!”
With the word ‘exit’, a gray color swept over Kang Woojin. It was a sudden situation.
“Huh!”
Due to this, he unknowingly let out a groan. Soon, Kim Daeyoung’s voice was heard in Woojin’s ear.
“Hey! What’s up all of a sudden? Are you okay?”
In Woojin’s sight, as he slowly turned his head, stood Kim Daeyoung. He had returned to Daeyoung’s room. He was slightly dazed, but he had definitely escaped from that void.
The answer was only one.
‘Exit. That’s the command to get out.’
Woojin immediately checked the current time. It was 11:41 in the morning. The same time as when he entered that crazy space.
‘I spent about 5 minutes in there. But the time remains the same.’
When you enter that boundless space, the time outside stops. Or at least it slows down considerably. Woojin, who came up with a reasonable answer, asked Kim Daeyoung.
“How did I look just now?”
“What do you mean? You were just pointing your finger like an idiot.”
“Next,”
“You paused for a moment and then suddenly gasped. Hey, are you really okay?”
From his friend’s reaction, Kang Woojin stroked his chin.
“This is fun. So, next-”
Just as Woojin was about to stretch out his finger again,
-Vrrr, vrrrr.
Kim Daeyoung’s phone on the desk vibrated. Thanks to that, he, who had been looking at Woojin worriedly, picked up the phone.
“Yes- Hello.”
Soon, Kim Daeyoung, who was talking with someone, made eye contact with Woojin sitting in front of him.
“Yes, yes, yes. Ah! Yes? Ah, yes, yes. Hold on a moment. He’s right in front of me now.”
After finishing his words, Kim Daeyoung pushed his phone to Woojin, whispering softly.
“The ‘Super Actor’ PD wants to talk to you.”
Kang Woojin immediately frowned. But he accepted the phone anyway.
“Yes.”
A slightly excited female voice came from the other side of the phone.
“Mr. Kang Woojin?? Oh my- We were surprised when you suddenly disappeared!”
As soon as he heard her voice, Kang Woojin’s bravado kicked in again. Because of his earlier embarrassment.
“Well, um, yes.”
“Um- Woojin? Do you by any chance have any intention of appearing on ‘Super Actor’ again?”
“Why?”
“You passed! You passed the first round! If you could come to the second preliminary round, that would be really great! The story is also good, you came with your friend but you ended up passing instead? Isn’t that fun?”
You want to make me a laughing stock? You’re talking nonsense. Kang Woojin answered the excited PD over the phone in a low and heavy voice. Because it was important to maintain his image.
“I don’t want to.”
He added an excuse to neutralize his embarrassment to his show of strength.
“It was just a killing time anyway.”
Since it was just a way to pass the time, he implied that she should forget about it. However, it seemed that the ‘Super Actor’ PD on the other end of the phone interpreted it differently.
“That acting…was just a killing time?”