Godsent Top Star [EN]: Chapter 100

The Beginning of the Disaster (1)

100. The Beginning of the Disaster (1)

2022.02.08.

The problem wasn’t just him; he had to ensure the safety of the entire filming crew and cast. If even one person was left behind, the movie’s prospects would be severely diminished. [First, calm everyone down. Panicking in situations like this exponentially increases the chance of injury. In the worst-case scenario, death……] “Okay, that’s enough.” There’s a saying that words have power [a reference to the idea that speaking negatively can bring about negative outcomes]. Quickly stopping Adrian’s ominous words, Yeon-woo mixed spirit power into his voice. He couldn’t worry about anyone questioning it later. ‘Well, if it comes down to it, I’ll just deny it.’ Fortunately, Yeon-woo’s ability worked very well this time too. [This way. There’s a branch in front. Be careful of it.] “Are we far?” [We’re almost there. Let’s see…… at this pace, we should arrive in about 5 minutes.] Exactly 5 minutes later.

“Uwaaa! I’m alive!”

“God, Buddha, Allah. Thank you. Thank you…….”

“No, shouldn’t you be thanking Yeon-woo?” The staff members, who barely made it to the cave Adrian had described, collectively sighed in relief and collapsed. Walking for over twenty minutes in torrential rain where you couldn’t see an inch ahead, relying only on the hand holding the person in front and Yeon-woo’s words. It was truly an exhausting task. A path that would normally take less than 10 minutes had doubled because visibility was blocked. And even that was only possible because of Yeon-woo.

“What rain……. I knew the weather could be fickle by the sea and in the mountains, but this is too much…….”

“The weather forecast didn’t even mention rain.”

“We’re all here, right? No one’s missing, right? Everyone check with their team members!” Once the headcount was confirmed, the sense of relief deepened.

“It’s a great relief that there’s a cave like this. If it weren’t for this place……. Ugh…….” Perhaps they would have wandered aimlessly and fallen down a slope, or a terrible outcome like hypothermia might have awaited them. One of the staff members shuddered, imagining the worst.

“We would have been in big trouble if it weren’t for Yeon-woo. Seriously. How did you know about this place? I didn’t even know there was a place like this.” They had all walked the same path together, but none of them knew that there was a cave here. ‘Well, I owe it to Adrian’s guidance.’ Adrian had been lingering around here as a earthbound spirit for decades. It was only possible because he knew this place as well as he knew the back of his hand. But he couldn’t reveal that fact.

“I just have a good sense of direction.” Surprisingly, this answer worked perfectly.

“Ah, that’s right. You did.”

“Last time, you even figured out the way by looking at the drone footage.”

“Come to think of it, that’s right? Yeah. We’ve been going around without a guide since then, haven’t we?”

“The guide was just a little more familiar with the area and was pretty useless anyway…….” He had found a path that the guide, who prided himself on being a local, had wandered for over three hours. He had accurately identified poisonous plants that even the guide was confused about. He even safely arrived at a safe cave through the torrential rain just now. The belief in Yeon-woo had become almost like a religion.

“As expected, Yeon-woo…… was a good casting choice……. The second best thing I’ve ever done…….” It wasn’t very loud, but it seemed like he was saying that casting Yeon-woo was the second best thing he had ever done. The staff members sitting nearby nodded in agreement. Then, suddenly, “Is it safe here……? I heard that animals live in caves like this in the mountains…….” One of the staff members said, looking around, causing a slight commotion.

“Animals? What kind of animals?”

“If it’s this big, it could be a lion, a tiger, or maybe a bear…….”

“What? Then isn’t that a big problem?”

“What is it? What’s the big deal?”

“I’m saying there might be predators here…….”

“Predators?!” There’s an old saying that if there are three people, they can create a tiger [meaning rumors can create something out of nothing]. “C-calm down. We’ll check it out first.” The local staff members in charge of local safety and living guides finally seemed to have found something to do and reluctantly got up. Originally, it was their job to lead people to a safe place. But in a place they had only been to a couple of times with a guide, the pouring rain made even excellent physiques useless. Crouching down and following closely behind was the best they could do. Just as they were about to get up to make up for it, “There are no predators.” Yeon-woo’s suppression was faster. The local staff members, who had half-risen, awkwardly changed their posture. [It’s been abandoned for a long time. There’s no distinctive musky smell either. Ah, wild animals have a distinctive smell that modern people find hard to imagine. You can tell because it’s almost impossible to smell it here. There might have been some in the past, but not now. Come to think of it, I haven’t seen any predators since the monsters appeared. Whether it’s a coincidence…… and…….] It was because Adrian’s denial immediately followed the word predator.

“Oh…… come to think of it, I think I’ve heard of that before. Was it on the Discovery Channel? I saw a documentary there, and they said something similar!”

“That’s right, that’s right. If there were predators, something would have happened already when we came in like this, right?”

“I think the previous guide said there were no dangerous animals on this island…….”

“It’s hard to trust the words of someone who couldn’t even recognize poisonous plants, but we actually haven’t seen any big animals for the past few days, have we? Right?” The initial suppression was successful.

“Do you see the traces of cobwebs on the wall? You can only see cobwebs that are stretched, broken, and clumped together like that in places that have been left unattended for a long time, so rest assured.” The moment he finished explaining.

-Ting!

[You have perfectly fulfilled the client’s request!]

[Congratulations! You will acquire additional obtainable stats as a reward!]

[Reward: Find emergency shelters in case of disaster] [A]

-Ting!

[You have perfectly fulfilled the client’s request!]

[Congratulations! You will acquire additional obtainable stats as a reward!]

[Reward: Safely evacuate team members in case of emergency] [A+]

Once again, a notification that he had become quite familiar with popped up here. This time, two stats popped up at the same time. But…… ‘Well, I’m not even surprised anymore.’ Yeon-woo’s expression was indifferent as he looked at the status window. ‘Strictly speaking, Adrian did it all…….’ Free stuff is always welcome. As long as there’s the cheat item called ability combination, it’s best to collect any additional stats first. The torrential rain showed no signs of stopping.

“If this goes wrong, we might be stuck here…….” Fortunately, the filming schedule isn’t that tight. But the story is different if they are isolated apart from filming. They had safely avoided the rain, but the problem didn’t end there.

“Ugh…… why do I feel so cold?” The island basically has a warm temperature. However, perhaps because they were soaked in the rain and psychological factors were combined, people whose body temperature had dropped significantly complained of the cold.

“The rescue team…… when will they come?”

“The rain will stop soon, right?”

“It will. They said the rain that falls in places like this is short-lived.” They seemed to be trying to think positively, but the condition of the people who had been pushed to their limits in an instant was not good. Adrian’s opinion was the same. [Hmm. This is not rain that will stop easily.] Adrian, who had been observing while getting rained on all over his body, came back into the cave without a single wet spot. [If those people are left alone, something terrible will happen.] Already, some of the staff members had blue lips. No matter how much they squeezed and shook out the water, there was nothing they could do in their already soaked state.

[It would be good to start a fire.] Yeon-woo agreed with that. But the problem was ‘how’ to do it. ‘I don’t think this light will last long either…….’ He couldn’t just leave it on until it ran out of battery because he didn’t know when and how he would have to use it. “Ugh…… ughdddd…….” “Ughhhh……. Yeon-woo looked back at the people who were huddled together to share body heat. In front of him, Adrian was crossing his arms as if asking what he was going to do. The decision was instantaneous. “I’ll be back for a bit.”

***

[You don’t need twigs. They’re wet, so they won’t catch fire.]

“Then what should I look for?” [Find the thickest logs you can. It’s over there.] Adrian flew away and pointed to a certain spot. ‘How convenient.’ Even the latest navigation system wouldn’t be this precise in everyday life. How would he know where to find dead logs as thick as his thighs rolling around?

[It’ll be difficult if they get any wetter, so let’s take them and come back.] When he returned with thick logs in both arms, people’s eyes widened.

“What are those logs……?”

“I’m going to start a fire.”

“Fire? But it’s wet?” [Only the outside is. Only the outside.] Of course, Adrian’s answer couldn’t be heard.

“Please wait here.”

“Wait, Yeon-woo…… I’ll go with you…… It’s hard alone…….” Director Ji 벌떡 got up.

“We’ll go too! We know this place to some extent…….”

“No. It’s okay.”

“Still, it’s hard to be alone…….”

“That’s right. Yeon-woo is the reason we came this far, so how can we send him out alone in that rain?”

“That’s right. It’s better to go together…….” Several staff members offered to help, but Yeon-woo shook his head.

“It’ll be faster if I go alone, so don’t worry.”

“But…….”

“Director, you especially can’t. You know our movie will be all stopped if you get hurt, right?”

“Still, how can we leave Yeon-woo alone…….” Yeon-woo shook his head firmly. Leaving aside the other staff members, if Director Ji, who was like a bear, came along, it would be helpful, but……. ‘To be honest, it’s faster and easier to go alone.’ It was much more comfortable and efficient to just go alone. In fact, it was a bit precarious even now. Until now, it was an unavoidable situation and at a level that could be glossed over……. ‘There’s no need to go out of my way to arouse suspicion.’ If he was suspected while going together, it would be him who would be in trouble. While Yeon-woo firmly drew the line and went out, a small commotion arose in the cave.

“Aigo. Director Heo. Why did you step up there? He’s telling you not to follow because he’s worried!” One of the staff members scolded the lighting director who had stepped up first.

“No…… but I just wanted to help…….”

“We’ll only be a burden. Didn’t you see on the way here? We don’t even know the direction, but Yeon-woo knows how to do everything?”

“Is that so?”

“It’s more of a nuisance if we wander around in the rain and go missing. It’s not like I don’t want to help……. At least we shouldn’t hold back the person who’s trying to help us.”

“That’s right. Director Ji would be more helpful, but look at how Director Ji firmly refused for the sake of the movie.”

“I really don’t know how someone can be so considerate. Amazing.” The staff members nodded here and there at the staff member’s words. No matter how you listened, it was the right thing to say. What if he tried to help and it actually got in the way of Yeon-woo? The very thought of helping could be selfish.

“And Director Heo, you sprained your leg.” No matter how well Yeon-woo led them, it was almost inevitable that he would sprain his ankle on the slippery, rainy road in the forest. Besides that, there was damage such as scratches on the skin from rough branches, but looking at the situation, they were very minor injuries.

“……Is it obvious? It’s not that bad. It doesn’t interfere with walking.”

“Do you think Yeon-woo wouldn’t have noticed what we noticed? How meticulous is he.”

“Ah. So……?”

“So just stay still. It’ll be hardest on Yeon-woo if we go outside and get hurt more.”

“Look at him going outside for us even at a time like this. You won’t find someone that kind these days, will you?”

“Look at him reassuring us first and then going out even though he must have been flustered. He’s also responsible. How can someone be so kind?” Everyone in this place knew. If Yeon-woo wasn’t here, they might have posted terrible news on overseas news, let alone come this far. No one thought it was an exaggeration. There are definitely people who get stranded even on ordinary hikes where it doesn’t rain. The longer the time they are stranded, the lower their chances of survival become. But even worse, there was torrential rain pouring down here.

“Who is that person anyway? Wasn’t he an actor?”

“Who, Yeon-woo? Of course, he’s an actor. He’s our lead actor.”