Former Warrior Turns Into A Million-Dollar Actor [EN]: Chapter 124

Former Hero is a Top Star – Episode 124

Rising Rockets (6)

* * *

A small building in Seodaemun-gu [a district in Seoul].

A visitor came to this building, owned by Yoonbal25, from the morning.

“Hello, Team Leader.”

“Yes, Writer Yoonbal, no, CEO Son?”

“He’s upstairs. He came to work early.”

“Thank you. Have a good day.”

Lee Seung-hyun, the team leader of ‘Rolling Comics,’ pressed the 5th floor of the elevator.

Recently, Yoonbal25 launched a small management company. The company name is ‘Sonbal Media,’ a one-person publishing house and a kind of writer’s association.

The bottom floor is the editorial department, the middle floor is a shared office space that affiliated writers can freely use, and the top floor is the CEO’s office and his own workspace.

Yoonbal25, who was sitting in the lounge and diligently typing on his laptop, recognized Team Leader Lee and greeted him.

“Oh, Team Leader! Good morning!”

“The weather is fantastic. You look like you’re in great condition, CEO?”

“What’s not to be good? Now that I have a family to support, I have to work hard.”

Soon, the two sat facing each other. Two hours flew by talking about work, such as new work distribution, platform advancement, and webtoon [Korean digital comic] and audio drama production.

After the urgent matters were roughly settled, Team Leader Lee cautiously brought up a personal topic.

“By the way, I’m really enjoying it these days. It’s the first time I’ve been looking forward to Mondays.”

“You mean ‘Ruin Guide’s Return’?”

“Yes. It’s the best drama I’ve ever seen. It’s similar to the original but different, so I can’t predict the next twist, and that drives me crazy. It’s partly because the writer is so good.”

Yoonbal25 gave an uncomfortable dry cough. He looked like he had just received praise from a rival competing for the top spot in school.

“Well… that *ajumma* [a Korean term for a middle-aged or older woman], she surprisingly listens to me. She’s not living in vain; her skills are pretty good…”

Team Leader Lee, who knew the inside story, tried hard to hold back his laughter.

It was only recently that rumors spread that the conflict between Yeo Jin-joo and the original author had been resolved, and they were even doing something like a collaboration.

Moreover, the two writers released interviews as if they had promised to ‘respect’ each other, and various theories circulated.

-What’s this? Why did they suddenly reconcile?

-Is it a real reconciliation? LOL [laughing out loud], it’s just lip service.

-Yeah, they just let it go moderately because of actors Park Geon and Roman.

People guessed that it would be a one-time image-making event, given the two writers’ usual personalities.

However, the feud rumors began to subside due to the quality of the drama being produced.

[Choi Phillip Rises as the Best Joker in ‘Ruin Guide’s Return’… A Villain You Can’t Hate? A ‘Crazy Relationship’ Threatening Park Geon]

[Park Geon’s Surprise Interview on His Way Home from Work, “There Are No Characters to Throw Away in This Drama, You Will Enjoy It Until the End”]

Dramatic directing was given to the existing novel, and character development and coherence, which had been pointed out as shortcomings during the serialization, were covered.

The eldest brother, Eun Seon-in, unexpectedly revealed his presence as a helper, and the tension in the play became even tighter as the second brother, Eun Seon-chang, who originally retired as a villain in the early part, was given a narrative.

And Chairman Eun Ki-hak, the final boss, also shows off the dignity of a ‘boss’ without reservation.

-My hand is twitching. Why, do you think I killed your mother?

-Well. I’m going to find out the truth.

Chairman Eun Ki-hak, accompanied by his entourage, heads to Sunhwa Shield. He has a one-on-one conversation with Eun Han-seom in the vice president’s office, and they exchange words that finally shed their pretense.

-Han-seom, you don’t know. The truth of this world is complex and ugly. Have you seen the roots of aquatic plants? If there are many entangled hands, dirt and water scum stick to them. The muddy water cannot be clean like a lie.

-Stop talking nonsense. I’m going to find out how messed up this damn family is and destroy it or save it.

-Eun Han-seom!

-Go back now. Unless you’re going to end it with me now.

The original ending is that Eun Han-seom overthrows Chairman Eun Ki-hak and ascends to the owner of Sunhwa.

However, based on the changed characters in the drama, predictions that there might be other twists are also heating up the board.

-Is that bastard crazy? Where is he trying to put his shit car… Oh, what’s that!

Screech, Bang!

And in the last episode.

The play ended with Eun Seon-chang’s car being hit by a truck as he was bringing in outside forces to take over the Sunhwa Group.

Who attacked Sunhwa’s second son? Lee Seung-hyun, the team leader, who was reading the ‘Ruin Guide’s Return’ viewer bulletin board with his tablet, sighed.

“Sigh, I’m really curious. CEO, what’s the ending? I won’t tell anyone else, so just tell me a little bit…”

“I don’t know.”

“Yes?”

Yoonbal25 stared blankly at him.

“I’ll have to go and see. I’m helping with the script, but I don’t know how similar it will be to the original. Maybe that *ajumma* hasn’t decided yet?”

Only then did Team Leader Lee understand.

Yoonbal25 and Yeo Jin-joo are both serious about creating a more perfect story, a single world.

“That makes me even more excited. I’ll do my best to promote it in the future.”

“Promote it?”

Lee Seung-hyun patted his chest at Yoonbal25, who asked back.

“Yes, I’ve been spreading it all around. Among my elementary, middle, high school, and college classmates, there is no one who doesn’t watch ‘Ruin Guide’s Return’.”

“Oh, as expected of Rolling Comics’ sixth in command. Your virus transmission power is amazing.”

“…Isn’t sixth in command too low?”

*

Upper part of Hanjo Tower.

Shooting equipment is set up in the Presidential Fitness & Spa, which is only available to membership VIPs [Very Important People].

The top floor penthouse was also approved, so there’s no way they couldn’t film the attached facilities.

“Wow, it’s no joke. It’s very fancy, but the swimming pool is small?”

“Because there are few people who come in the first place. Only people with too much money will come from time to time.”

Manager Kim Young-tae looked around as if he was amazed, and Choi Phillip added a cynical explanation.

If the bath scene in ‘The Dog of Seoul’ symbolized the feeling of a red-light district, this place is like an indoor resort.

It is completed with only the highest quality finishing materials, including a private swimming pool and a hot water pool with a fountain, a dry sauna room, and a red clay room.

Kim Jung-nam, the cinematographer, who was standing next to Park Geon, had an expression completely immersed in the nostalgia of the time.

“Actor Park, do you remember? We filmed with exactly this feeling back then. It was much more slippery, though.”

“Yes, there was a lot of steam.”

“Thinking about how slippery the floor was back then… phew, if it weren’t for Actor Park, someone would have broken a leg. You finished it in one take, even taking care of our kids.”

Choi Phillip, who was listening to their conversation, was disgusted.

“There’s no end to the good stories. Park Geon, don’t raise our company’s image too much. It’s annoying if the CEO’s expectations get too high.”

“Hey, you’re a senior in the same company… you can’t encourage me for doing well, huh?”

“What does it matter? Does my value go up because the agency’s stock goes up?”

“Doesn’t it go up much?”

The company’s stock price and the actor’s value have a strange relationship. When Choi Phillip was about to say something to Park Geon, PD [Production Director] Na Jong-mo appeared with Gu Shin-seung.

“Okay, our actors. How are you feeling today? Are you all ready to show off your physiques?”

Come to think of it, the staff’s eyes are shining about twice as much as usual today.

Sauna, swimming pool, hot water pool.

As you can see from the filming location, three handsome men are daring to expose themselves as a group.

Choi Phillip replies like a pro.

“Sorry, but I’m always in season. There’s nothing to prepare.”

“Wow, Actor Choi! The rumor that you can’t get sponsored because you have broad shoulders was true, huh?”

While PD Na Jong-mo was making a fuss, Gu Shin-seung, who had slipped up, interfered.

“That’s a lie. The staff all saw you working out all night in the company’s fitness room.”

“Oh, come on. I told you not to lie like it’s real!”

“Did you?”

Gu Shin-seung shrugged. Only after the person involved repeatedly protested did the annoying correction follow.

“Come to think of it, it’s not all night. Only about six times a week.”

That’s because PD Na Jong-mo had been subtly laying the groundwork for as long as two months.

-Everyone, would you be able to expose only your upper body? It’s a sauna scene that wasn’t in the original… you can wear a gown if you’re uncomfortable.

What is the best service scene? The vulgar era of stripping actors and idols naked and selling them is over, but the need for beauty remains unchanged.

However, it is not exposure for the sake of exposure. It is because it is a scene where the three brothers, who had been biting and fighting, take on a clue to understand each other even for a moment.

-I don’t care.

-I’m in too. There’s a lot of time left.

When Park Geon readily agreed, Choi Phillip nodded, and Gu Shin-seung, who was known as a health mania, also said OK, and today’s filming was made.

At that time, the inside of the dressing room suddenly became noisy. Wow, crazy… the reaction is so sincere that you can hear it.

Soon, today’s protagonists, who had taken off their upper bodies, appeared.

“Wow, did Park Geon just pump up?”

“No. I just came out.”

“But how does it become like this? It can’t even be compared to our trainer.”

Choi Phillip’s body, which was constantly admiring Park Geon, is also muscular enough to not fall behind anywhere.

However, the opponent is bad. Everyone’s eyes are on the expressionless Park Geon.

Could this be the statues of ancient Greece? A large deltoid muscle is attached to the end of the straight collarbone, and clear abdominal muscles are divided into eight pieces under the bulging chest muscles.

Gu Shin-seung, who was interestingly looking at his colleague’s body like looking at a human model, also said.

“It’s not a muscle made only by exercising like us. The quality of the muscle is different.”

Making a body that is moderately ‘fit’ in 1 to 3 years is something that all celebrities do.

However, it is almost impossible to create such a perfect shape with such crazy muscle quality. It is because even bones and muscles are the realm of inherited genes.

“It’s like a hero in mythology. What kind of exercise do you do to become like that? Give us some tips.”

At PD Na Jong-mo’s question, the person who made the body only tilted his head.

“I guess it’s because I’ve been doing bodyweight exercises for a long time. I also did something similar to kendo [Japanese martial art of swordsmanship]… Oh, there were a lot of action scenes in my work when I started acting.”

“No, how do you make that body into a work!”

“It’s a new kind of deception. I’m not going to work out with Park Geon anymore, no one has any complaints, right?”

“You’ve already built a wall with the gym anyway…”

An uproar erupts from the people around him. It’s a scam to say that it’s a body made by acting when it wouldn’t work even if you did it for ten hours a day.

Choi Phillip, who looked down at his body, laughed in vain.

“Oh, I was properly subdued.”

*

S#.73 Wide private room (inside)

-Ugh…

Eun Seon-chang opens his eyes on a white bed.

He groaned with his head wrapped around him, but his eyes widened as he looked around.

-What is this?

A familiar hospital room, Sunhwa Medical Center, which he had visited several times as a member of the owner’s family.

The reason he was surprised was not because of the place. It was because he recognized the uninvited guests sitting on the caregiver’s bed.

-You were sleeping so soundly that you wouldn’t have known if someone took you away, but you’re waking up so loudly.

-It’s a relief that it’s only this much. Are you okay?

The two guys he hates the most in the world, his half-brother and his younger brother, are all there.

Eun Seon-chang’s expression contorted at the sudden headache. He must have had an accident…

-Where is this?

-Sunhwa Medical Center. One car blocked the car you were in, and another truck hit the side. It would have been a disaster if Han-seom hadn’t had someone watching you.

The eldest brother, Eun Seon-in, explains in a tone without highs and lows. Eun Han-seom, who was clicking his tongue from the other side as if he was pathetic, added annoyingly.

-Don’t you know if you look? Of course, I had someone watching you because I didn’t know where you were going to cause an accident. You did the same thing, so don’t act surprised.

-You had someone watching me?

-I had to because I didn’t know where you were going to cause an accident. You did the same thing, so don’t act surprised.

Eun Seon-chang, the second-in-command in the succession to the throne and the president of Sunhwa Heavy Industries, twists his cheeks.

The youngest son, who had been doing suspiciously well these days. Not only was he gradually losing his shares, but the fact that he owed a debt to the same competitor was burning his head.

-As expected of someone with lowly blood…

Slap!

The regressor youngest son does not hold back. Eun Seon-chang’s cheek turns with a refreshing sound, and the eldest brother grabs Eun Han-seom, who jumped out of bed.

-You son of a bitch, did you just hit me? Huh?

-I could hit you more. A beating is the best medicine for a fool who can’t tell the difference between shit and piss.

-Stop it!

The two brothers’ fight stops at the shout that echoes through the hospital room.

The eldest brother, Eun Seon-in, who had never raised his voice, let alone shouted, speaks in a rarely agitated tone.

-Think about what our fathers did, are you going to divide the group into four or five pieces?

Chairman Eun Ki-hak, who is now harmless, was a truly iron-blooded tyrant a generation ago.

Excellent father and incompetent sons… Isn’t that a combination that wealthy people can’t get along with?

Even the youngest daughter, Eun Jae-young, who connected her father and brothers, died in an accident, and the animosity continued down to the grandchildren.

Eun Seon-in’s voice continues.

-I looked into what the youngest is doing. Even though it looks like a madman’s rampage at first glance, there was not a single thing that was not for the future of Sunhwa. I was so caught up in the prejudice that he was a troublemaker that I couldn’t recognize his true value.

-Brother, what are you talking about…

-I didn’t even know that my wife was pointing a knife at us. There must have been an accident by now. Seon-chang, you’re strangling me, and I’m stabbing you in the back. With a false misunderstanding that someone covered up.

Eun Seon-chang, who was about to say something, closes his mouth. Only the regressor, Eun Han-seom, who knows all this, watches the eldest brother with unusual eyes.

-I… can give up everything.

-Brother!

-Grandfather always taught us to regard each other as enemies. The troublemaker youngest and the second son who will become rivals. Instead of unreliable brothers, he thought that only I could bear this huge empire.

Gu Shin-seung’s acting surpasses the first class. The responsibility as the eldest grandson, the weight he has carried, and the feelings he has for his brothers flash by like a panorama.

-But it’s different now. If it’s to protect Sunhwa, my greed doesn’t matter. You can have that successor, all of you.

The place becomes quiet at the bombshell statement. Is this the stubborn and picky brother they know?

While Choi Phillip is frozen with his mouth open, Park Geon smiles slyly.

-Well, it’s not bad in this life.

-What does that mean?

-It’s nothing. I don’t know if that idiot understood what my brother meant… I saved him from dying, so he’ll get his act together.

As Park Geon throws it out and gets up, the eldest brother’s voice follows.

-Han-seom.

-What again?

-Let’s go to the sauna for the first time in a while. The three of us.

Beyond long conflicts and animosity,

The seeds of great harmony are finally sown.

* * *