Top Star By Luck [EN]: Chapter 150

150. Top Star Luck – Episode 150 (150/200)

Episode 150

The netplay-exclusive blockbuster that Lee Minki participated in producing became a hot topic.

[The Struggle of All Against All].

The premiere was delayed, but not for long.

To appease the public, Maiyar Pictures delivered a surprise gift.

[Eye-Popping Exclusive: A Sneak Peek at the Filming Set of All Against All!]

Just like Lee Minki’s diving scene.

‘Well, at least they’re bringing news.’

A female college student focused on her phone with a faint smile, seemingly pleased.

Then, she tapped the screen with her finger.

It was the moment Lee Minki’s new project was about to play.

“Hey, what are you watching?”

A guy tossed his bag next to her and asked, slouching down.

“Don’t talk to me.”

“What is it, Lee Minki again?”

“Hey, I said don’t talk to me. I need to concentrate.”

“Wow, you really like Lee Minki.”

Despite the female student’s annoyance, the male student leaned in, seemingly not caring.

Then, he muttered as if he couldn’t understand.

“Didn’t you used to hate Lee Minki?”

“Who?”

“Why, you used to criticize Lee Minki for getting preferential treatment from the staff as a rookie.”

At those words, the female student flinched, then turned her head slightly as if ignoring the male student, and muttered.

“…People’s tastes change.”

That’s right.

She actually belonged to the group that disliked the actor Lee Minki.

No, it was more than that.

She openly criticized him.

[The public likes Lee Minki, but I think differently. We’re a film club, so we need to look at it from a different perspective.]

Of course, she said that within the club.

[He’s good at acting, but there are people who are better if you only look at acting skills. There are plenty of older actors who are better right now.]

Even at work.

To be exact, she said that to a junior while working part-time at a movie theater.

“Is Lee Minki really that amazing in person?”

“People who haven’t seen him don’t know.”

That’s right.

She had changed her mind after seeing Lee Minki in person not long ago.

From an actor who relies on his looks and does a mediocre job acting, to an actor who has something to rely on and is good at acting.

“Lee Minki’s strength is his acting, not his looks.”

“How good can an actor who hasn’t been around for long be at acting?”

“Lee Minki is the type who grows. He makes great progress every time he films a project. He changes to a completely different level.”

“Isn’t that just marketing or directing?”

“No. Hey, then you should watch this.”

With a surge of emotion, she played Lee Minki’s new promotional video.

It’s a diving scene.

Since it was written in the promotional phrase that it was crazy acting, there must be something there.

That’s how the video played, and several tens of seconds passed.

“…”

“…”

The two stopped talking at the same time.

As if they had forgotten that they were arguing.

Were they surprised by his acting?

Or were they horrified by the visuals?

No.

The reason why these two were frozen in place was because.

“Whale?”

A whale appeared in the video.

Lee Minki, who had dived, fell into the water, and after a while, when they were worried that an accident might have happened.

[Splash!]

The whale stuck out its huge head and tossed Lee Minki onto the land like a cigarette butt and left.

“…Why is a whale there? Was this a fantasy movie?”

The male student burst into laughter.

It couldn’t be helped.

All Against All is a work that is being promoted as a reality survival show, but a whale appears and saves the drowning protagonist.

“The directing has to make sense.”

It seemed a bit too much.

“What whale is in the West Sea [Yellow Sea]? If it was Haeundae beach [famous beach in Busan, South Korea], I would have at least considered it.”

“…”

“Hey, I was wondering how good his acting was, but it was all CG [computer graphics].”

The male student poured out words with a burst of laughter.

He seemed convinced that this scene was a CG production.

It was a misunderstanding, but it was normal for anyone to misunderstand.

But the female student’s thoughts were a little different.

‘…Is it a trained whale?’

She misunderstood in a direction that leaned a little more towards Lee Minki.

‘Is that why they delayed the production period? To train a whale and use it for filming? It’s amazing that it doesn’t run away in the sea. …It’s training, right? It must be?’

Her head is dizzy.

What the heck did they make?

* * *

“As expected, no one believes it.”

Lee Minki muttered in a dissatisfied voice.

“I almost died filming this scene. Wasn’t it a loss?”

That was true.

[lololol]

[I know you wanted to do it for marketing, but this is a bit too much.]

[I’m a CG expert, and that’s definitely a composite.]

[Minki already looks like CG, so why bother with more CG?]

[This is too much.]

The video was uploaded.

The majority of the comments were engaged in a fierce debate over the authenticity of the video.

No, it was hard to even call it a debate.

They didn’t believe it.

Even though he had written that it was a real situation.

[I met that whale and talked to it, and it said it was real.]

[Whale: Whale?]

[Whale: I’m a whale]

The comment section was just a contest of the best jokes.

There were a few people who believed it, but that was it.

[They might have borrowed a whale trained in an aquarium.]

[They say they filmed hard, so why are you doing this?]

[The diving must be real.]

[We should praise him for doing it himself without using a stuntman.]

They believe it in a slightly different direction.

Lee Minki covered his face with his palm in a miserable mood.

A man approached him and said.

“Hey, CG scammer.”

“…Teacher.”

It was trainer Kim Ah-sung.

He sat down roughly on the opposite sofa and said, chuckling.

“I told you to cheat moderately.”

“I’m not cheating.”

“No matter how desperate you are for marketing, you have to keep the line.”

“I’m not cheating.”

“Is it cultivating oneself, governing the family, ruling the country, and bringing peace to the world? [a Confucian saying about the path to good governance]”

“Why is that coming out here?”

“You have to deceive yourself to deceive your family, and you have to deceive your family to deceive the world.”

I don’t understand any of it.

What’s the point of sincerely persuading someone whose purpose is to tease you in the first place?

Lee Minki shook his head from side to side, and trainer Kim Ah-sung laughed, clutching his stomach, and said.

“But it became a hot topic. Hasn’t the number of views already exceeded 10 million?”

At those words, Lee Minki pouted and nodded.

“…That’s true.”

Surprisingly, it was true.

Only 3 days after the video was released.

The [Sneak Peek at the Filming Set of All Against All!] video achieved the feat of surpassing 10 million views in that short amount of time.

While discussing the authenticity of the video, it became a promotion in itself.

‘Should I say this is lucky or bad?’

Even if the public accepted this video as marketing, it’s not that bad of a situation.

But modern people who pursue pleasure didn’t stop there.

They went even further.

“I wouldn’t say anything if this was all… Look.”

Lee Minki sighed, went into his phone gallery, and played a GIF.

Trainer Kim Ah-sung stared at it for a few seconds.

“Puhahahahahaha!!!”

He started laughing like crazy.

Like a madman, with laughter that he couldn’t control himself.

“Hey, people are, puheup, a little, keup, good at, puheuk, puk, pup, playing.”

He couldn’t help but laugh.

It wasn’t that he was laughing to tease his student as always, but it was a situation where he couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

The laughing bell [a term for something extremely funny] of the video in Lee Minki’s hand was that level.

‘World.’

Lee Minki jumped off a high cliff.

Suddenly, Lee Minki soared upside down, firing flames from his feet like a rocket and flying into the sky.

‘What kind of sensibility is this?’

Who made this?

The culprit was a Western YouTube user specializing in synthesis, [Rocket punch generation].

Rocket Punch Generation.

Also known as RPG.

He would take any scene from a movie or drama and synthesize a rocket into it.

In Titanic, the male and female leads are ejected into the sky.

During a soccer game, he fires a rocket instead of a soccer ball.

‘Does this person like rockets that much?’

He has been walking the path of rockets for 7 years.

RPG’s YouTube subscriber count has reached a whopping 2.2 million.

That’s right.

While people in Korea are arguing about the authenticity of the whale, the West has sublimated the diving itself into humor.

Under the name Diving Lee.

‘Why is the number of views higher than the original video?’

[Diving Lee].

The cumulative number of views for this video to date is a whopping 14 million.

In the West, the number of views is higher than Lee Minki’s original video.

Why?

The internet has the power of algorithms, is this it?

“Wow, Minki’s ability to attract aggro [attention] is really something.”

Trainer Kim Ah-sung, who had calmed down, wiped the moisture from his eyes.

“Puheup.”

No.

He hasn’t calmed down yet.

He laughed for another 8 seconds before he could finally take a deep breath and speak.

“Maybe this is also a talent? A talent that only Minki can do.”

“Stop teasing me. I think I’m going to start thinking that way too.”

It would be different if I was teased only today.

It’s been 3 days.

I’m tired of being teased for 3 days already.

It was the moment Lee Minki turned his head with that thought.

“No, I’m not teasing you, I’m serious.”

Trainer Kim Ah-sung smiled slightly.

The next moment.

A slightly different word flowed from his mouth.

“Now that it’s a hot topic, try playing with fire.”

“Playing with fire is…”

It was the moment Lee Minki reflexively tried to refute those words.

“Ah.”

I realized.

He realized what trainer Kim Ah-sung was trying to say to him.

This situation is not exactly the situation he wants.

But even dog poop can be used as medicine [an idiom meaning even something bad can be useful].

‘Let’s try it.’

Lee Minki nodded and said.

“Let’s do it.”

* * *

A few days later.

A series of *jjalbang* [short, humorous image or GIF] started to flood the internet.

[Crazy bastard]

Lee Minki dives into the water with the water, then flies into the sky holding a whale.

[I’m really going crazy]

There was also a *jjalbang* of 30 Lee Minki jumping down at the same time.

[Aren’t you going to get sued?]

[As long as it’s not me]

A *jjalbang* of Lee Minki exploding like a bomb as soon as he touches the water.

[Hey, you’re really going to get sued for this]

A *jjalbang* of Lee Minki falling from the air and equipping an Iron Man suit.

And so on.

Lee Minki’s diving was being reproduced as all sorts of bizarre *jjalbang*.

It was a (Meme) created based on the American internet community.

Diving Lee.

With those that had already become a trend lined up in front.

“Okay, shall we review it again today?”

Lee Minki opened his mouth.

“Thank you for the 30,000 won donation.”

One more word.

“Your donations will be returned to the creators’ pockets.”