I was Mistaken as a Monstrous Genius Actor [EN]: Chapter 70

How much time had passed?

Kang Woo-jin, who had been living in several worlds as ‘Lee Sang-man,’ suddenly returned to the van. The surroundings were the same: the traffic jam, Jang Su-hwan in the driver’s seat, Choi Seong-geon on a call, and Han Ye-jeong looking at a style book. They had no idea where Kang Woo-jin had just been.

Everything was the same.

However, Kang Woo-jin had lived in the reality of ‘Lee Sang-man’ and possessed all of his memories and experiences. While there was no significant change in Woo-jin’s world itself, the life of the new role imprinted on him became even clearer. This time, it was also extraordinary.

Therefore, Kang Woo-jin.

“······”

He maintained a blank expression and stared into the air for a moment. It wasn’t clear where he was looking, but it was certain that he was concentrating.

To extract the essence of ‘Lee Sang-man,’ whom he had directly experienced.

‘It’s okay, I don’t feel bad.’

He had to freely use ‘Lee Sang-man,’ the character in the scenario. To do that, he had to elevate his own ego as Kang Woo-jin to the extreme.

‘I am the master of every role I read, and you guys are just my consumables.’

Kang Woo-jin had a very serious face right now, but it wasn’t an act. Whatever it was, the past experiences of ‘Kim Ryu-jin’ and ‘Manager Park’ were helpful. They had allowed him to experience countless hells in advance.

Kang Woo-jin’s mind was already strong.

The penalty of the subspace was intense, but bearable. At least, that’s how Kang Woo-jin felt. It wasn’t light, but it wasn’t heavy either. It was similar to usual, yes, similar to usual. It was a little uncomfortable, but not to the point of being a problem.

Still.

‘Hoo-‘

He couldn’t help but feel nauseous. He felt like throwing up. Even though Lee Sang-man in the work might have felt pleasure, Woo-jin felt like he had come out of a swamp. An experience he never wanted to go through again. A scene he had to try hard to dismiss as acting.

‘Let’s drink some water.’

The water tasted bitter. Was it because the lingering unpleasantness was still not completely gone? But this would lessen with repeated reading (experience). He had to become numb to it.

Then, Kang Woo-jin.

-Swish.

He lowered his gaze. He looked at the ‘Drug Dealer’ scenario in his hand. To be precise, he was understanding the feelings of ‘Lee Sang-man,’ whom he had just experienced. He excluded everything about Lee Sang-man that was imprinted by the subspace ability and verified Lee Sang-man with Kang Woo-jin’s pure thoughts.

This process was similar to the script analysis that Kang Woo-jin had mastered.

The content of the scenario, the life of Lee Sang-man experienced in the subspace, and Kang Woo-jin’s impressions. When these three things combined, his acting became extremely solid and surpassed mere technique. The result was already visible to the world.

Manager Park in the latter half of episodes 3 and 4 of ‘Profiler Han-ryang.’

And on top of that.

‘If I do it like this, I feel several times more fun while acting.’

After completing this process and starting to act, the pure ‘fun’ increased several times over. It was like the afterglow of the imprinted character became clearer. Kang Woo-jin was maximizing the ability of the subspace in his own way. He was developing even further. It was realized in the vivid quality of his acting.

It was at this moment.

“Oh, right, Woo-jin.”

Choi Seong-geon in the passenger seat called out to Kang Woo-jin.

“You know Kim Dae-young? We’re talking about him joining the company sometime after mid-June next month?”

Kang Woo-jin focused slightly at the mention of his friend’s name.

“Yes.”

“But originally, the manager side needs training. But you’re a rookie right now, right? So it’s a bit ambiguous to assign him directly to you. It’s not like we’re short on staff right now. So, I was thinking of assigning him to Hye-yeon’s side for now?”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah, but if you want, we can assign him to you.”

No? Not at all. And if it’s Kim Dae-young, he would beg to be assigned to Hong Hye-yeon no matter what.

“No, I think what you’re thinking is right, CEO.”

“Right? For a while, he’ll be attached to Hye-yeon’s side to get training as a manager or guard, and he’ll only support you when I’m not available.”

Currently, Choi Seong-geon was Kang Woo-jin’s main manager, but he was also the CEO of BW Entertainment. Therefore, there were times when he was not available. The idea was to put Kim Dae-young, who was in training, as a temporary replacement only at those times.

To this, Kang Woo-jin answered solemnly, but also.

“Understood, CEO.”

He smiled inwardly.

‘That bastard Kim Dae-young. He’s achieved his lifelong wish. I wonder if he’ll be able to do his job properly while being frozen in front of Hong Hye-yeon?’

In the meantime, Choi Seong-geon’s phone rang.

-♬♪

He quickly put the phone to his ear. As soon as Choi Seong-geon, who had been talking to someone for a while, put down the phone.

“…Huh- What the. Woo-jin.”

He made eye contact with Kang Woo-jin again. For some reason, Choi Seong-geon had a strange expression on his face.

“Is something weird happening again?”

“What do you mean?”

“I just got off the phone with the Netflix creative team? And they said that Hwa-rin is going to do ‘Best Friend’.”

Huh? Hwa-rin? This was a bit out of the blue. Woo-jin was slightly surprised inside. Why? Because he didn’t understand.

‘Does she not know I’m the male lead? What is it? She said she definitely wouldn’t do it.’

Clearly, Hwa-rin on the day of the Netflix meeting seemed to see Woo-jin as not very good. Kang Woo-jin asked again, just in case.

“Isn’t it possible that she doesn’t know I’m her co-star?”

Choi Seong-geon immediately shook his head.

“They said they started the meeting with Hwa-rin by revealing that you were her co-star?”

“······”

“But why is Hwa-rin doing this? It was already out of the blue that she showed up at the meeting, so I’m a bit taken aback. Well, of course, it’s good, but.”

Road manager Jang Su-hwan and Han Ye-jeong also chimed in.

“I’m a fan of Hwa-rin, and it’s unusual! I’ve never seen her do a one-act play before!”

“Could it be because of Hye-yeon unnie’s [older sister] influence? Hwa-rin and Hye-yeon unnie are close.”

It was a plausible guess, but Choi Seong-geon still tilted his head.

“Hmm- Well, there might be some influence. But someone at Hwa-rin’s level is clear about work and personal life. It’s work, after all. She wouldn’t choose a project based on a few words of advice from Hye-yeon.”

“Ah, I guess.”

Meanwhile, Kang Woo-jin maintained a poker face, but also.

‘Ah- Hwa-rin. She’s pretty, but her personality seems a bit off.’

He was grumbling slightly inside.

‘She seemed to look down on me a bit, too.’

Then, suddenly.

‘Ah.’

Something flashed in Kang Woo-jin’s mind.

-[6/Script (Title: Best Friend), Grade A]

It was the grade of ‘Best Friend’ that had suddenly jumped from B to A.

‘So, it went up to A grade because of Hwa-rin. But does the grade go up that much just because Hwa-rin joins? Hmm- or is there something more?’

Whatever it was, Kang Woo-jin’s motivation waned a bit. Because his first impression of Hwa-rin wasn’t very good.

‘Tsk, whatever. I’ll just do my best in acting.’

But he couldn’t throw away an A-grade project. Woo-jin wondered if this was the life of actors. Even if the co-star was not good, they had to act like crazy.

Around this time, Choi Seong-geon in the passenger seat was.

‘Is something going to explode again?’

He was glancing at Kang Woo-jin, who had a blank expression.

‘Whenever Kang Woo-jin gets involved, something absurd happens in that project, like with the detective agency and Han-ryang. And now this Best Friend.’

His eyes were full of anticipation.

‘Hehe. What kind of crazy thing is going to happen this time?’

After that.

While Kang Woo-jin was moving in the van, the internet was noisy from the morning. There were countless issues, but the most prominent one was, of course, ‘Profiler Han-ryang.’

Because episode 6 had aired yesterday.

Moreover, the viewership rating, which had been over 25%, had plummeted to 21.7% in episode 5, so the media and public opinion were highly focused on the viewership rating of episode 6.

And the viewership rating announced from the morning.

『[Official] ‘Profiler Han-ryang’ Episode 6 Viewership Rating 22.3%』

Fortunately, it had recovered to some extent with 22.3%. However, it was still below 25%. The media, which wanted sensationalism, would not let this go.

『[Issue Pick] ‘Han-ryang’, It has recovered, but… Still below 25% viewership rating』

『’Profiler Han-ryang’ with 22.3% viewership rating, can it go back to 25%?』

As soon as the viewership rating came out, they were busy tearing it apart. Therefore, Kang Woo-jin or Manager Park were summoned again.

『[Star Talk] ‘Han-ryang’ with 22% viewership rating, should we bring back ‘Manager Park’ Kang Woo-jin?』

It was because the various media and public opinions had become dull. Han-ryang was already maintaining an amazing record of over 20%, but the media was just chewing and tearing apart trivial issues.

Because negative stimulation sells better than positive.

Regardless of which issue it was, Han-ryang’s popularity was growing day by day. Thanks to that power, the preview video of the Han-ryang team’s episode of ‘Sports Day,’ which was uploaded around Saturday afternoon yesterday, was.

-!Preview! I wish you would watch this more and more, a little less col…?｜Sports Day X Profiler Han-ryang

-[SBC]/ENG SUB

-2,312,335 views/ 2020. 5. 30

It resulted in over 2.3 million views. Of course, it was still rising like crazy.

In addition, around the afternoon.

-@Wooji_n

Posts 18

Followers 196K

Following 3

The number of fans on Kang Woo-jin’s SNS exploded. Nearly 200,000 followers in about two weeks. The speed was increasing day by day.

Meanwhile, at this time, at Netflix Korea.

“…What? Is that true??”

Among the people gathered in the meeting room, the general director sitting at the head of the table widened her eyes. The team leader of the creative team had given her a big piece of news after she had returned from an external meeting.

“Did you say that Hwa-rin really said she would do ‘Best Friend’?”

It was said that Hwa-rin had expressed her intention to appear in the one-act play ‘Best Friend.’ Naturally, the general director Kim So-hyang found it hard to believe.

“What is it? Wasn’t Hwa-rin a bit lukewarm at the meeting yesterday? She had quite a few questions, but she didn’t seem like she would do it at all?”

“I, I couldn’t believe it when I got the call, so I asked several times. Hwa-rin said she would do it herself.”

“…Wow, what on earth is going on?”

“We’ve already informed Kang Woo-jin’s side.”

“What did they say?”

“They said it was good.”

“Of course. No, more than good, it’s kind of crazy, the situation.”

The Netflix platform was distributed worldwide, but it was a system that entrusted full authority to the general directors, who were like branch managers in each country.

In other words, the one-act play project was her decision.

Frankly, general director Kim So-hyang didn’t have high expectations for the one-act play project. She wanted to express the image and challenging nature of Netflix Korea paying attention to the market.

It was closer to branded content aimed at the public.

‘Why is everything suddenly going so well?’

But then, bombs were suddenly exploding one after another in that one-act play.

‘I was going to go with unknown actors. But then, rising star Kang Woo-jin gets attached, and suddenly, even Hwa-rin??’

They were really unexpected results. It wasn’t like Netflix Korea had taken any action.

“We just circulated the script a lot, right? We haven’t even started casting the actors properly yet, right? Well, did anyone do any separate work?”

“No. There isn’t. And we circulated the script a lot, but the only ones who bit were Kang Woo-jin and Hwa-rin.”

“What? It’s so smooth that I’m getting anxious. If Kang Woo-jin and Hwa-rin had some connection, I could understand it somehow. But there isn’t, right?”

“No. They’re from different agencies, and they’re not even friends.”

“They’re complete strangers-”

General director Kim So-hyang trailed off. Right now, she needed a clear judgment rather than being surprised. She suddenly fell into thought. The situation was turning strangely, but she couldn’t just stare blankly. She had to extract the maximum efficiency.

Soon, Kim So-hyang, who had stopped talking while stroking her chin, opened her mouth again as if an idea had struck her.

“First, let’s prioritize things clearly. Let’s finalize the contracts with Kang Woo-jin and Hwa-rin as soon as possible and start producing ‘Best Friend’.”

“Then, should we open the project with ‘Best Friend’ first?”

“Of course. Focus the first promotion on ‘Best Friend’. When the time comes, put Kang Woo-jin and Hwa-rin’s names on it and circulate it. We should also go with a solid production team.”

“Understood.”

“And.”

General director Kim So-hyang suddenly smiled.

“How about we expand this?”

“Expand? In what way?”

“I mean, let’s broaden our perspective. Let’s not limit ourselves to the domestic market. If Hwa-rin is attached, wouldn’t it be enough to work in Japan? ‘Elani’ is very powerful in Japan.”

“Ah.”

“Japan is different from Korea, and dramas themselves are short and impactful, right? One-act plays would be more popular than in Korea. More than half of the Netflix rankings in Japan are our content right now.”

“Yes, more than 5 out of 10 are ours.”

Kim So-hyang, having heard the answer, stated her conclusion.

“We should launch it on Netflix Japan as well, then.”

Monday, near Yongsan-gu [a district in Seoul].

Early morning of June 1st. May had ended, and June had dawned. For Kang Woo-jin, May had been a month of tremendous change, and June was also expected to bring changes that would make him stick out his tongue [a Korean expression for being surprised or overwhelmed].

Such Kang Woo-jin was in a large building.

It was the headquarters of ‘Maxnald,’ one of the top 3 fast-food brands in Korea. Woo-jin was sitting in the middle of a U-shaped table in a large conference room. Of course, Choi Seong-geon was also with him. The ‘Maxnald’ logo was plastered everywhere on the walls of the conference room, and Kang Woo-jin was looking around the conference room, though he didn’t show it.

‘I can’t believe I’m here as a model. Max Burger is so delicious.’

He himself had often eaten ‘Maxnald’ hamburgers. But now, he was sitting as an advertising model for the brand, not as a customer. Of course, Kang Woo-jin was not in charge of the entire ‘Maxnald’ model. There were several products in the fast-food brand, and each product had a different model.

In other words, Woo-jin was scheduled to be in charge of one of the hamburger lines.

‘It’s a mess, really.’

Anyway, life is unpredictable. Even.

“…Woo-jin!”

“Wow… handsome…”

“Kya…!!”

Outside the conference room, ‘Maxnald’ employees were making a fuss as they looked at Woo-jin. Thanks to the semi-transparent glass, their movements were all visible. It was a scene where you could feel Kang Woo-jin’s rapidly rising popularity.

“Oh, I’ll have to sign some autographs when we leave after the meeting.”

“Understood.”

“Okay- I’ll go to the bathroom real quick, so wait here.”

“Yes.”

It seemed like Choi Seong-geon was trying to empty his bladder before the meeting, and he quickly left the conference room. And about a minute later, the glass door of the conference room opened again. Woo-jin turned his head, thinking it was Choi Seong-geon, but.

“Hello, Woo-jin-ssi.”

“Have you been waiting long? Ah- Where’s CEO Choi?”

‘Maxnald’ employees related to advertising came in. Marketing team, etc. They were holding tablets or transparent files, and there were about five of them. Therefore, Woo-jin reflexively stood up and greeted them. Of course, he lowered his voice.

“Hello, the CEO has gone to the bathroom for a moment.”

“Ah, I see.”

“Then, shall we have a brief conversation before CEO Choi arrives?”

Soon, Kang Woo-jin and the ‘Maxnald’ employees sat facing each other. At this time, a female employee with long hair tied in a single braid, who had been watching Woo-jin intently from across the table, spoke to Kang Woo-jin.

“Woo-jin-ssi, do you perhaps not remember me?”

What is it? Who is it? Woo-jin answered calmly.

“Yes, who are you?”

The female employee smiled and continued.

“We were in the same department in college.”

At that moment, the expressionless Woo-jin’s brow twitched slightly.

End