Former Warrior Turns Into A Million-Dollar Actor [EN]: Chapter 148

The Former Hero is a Star – Episode 148 (148/199)

Precarious Location (3)

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A young man of 28.

Lee Gyu-sik, the youngest member of the stunt team who joined at the request of a senior colleague close to Kim Yang-ho, was petrified with fear.

Rat-tat-tat, bang!

The sound of a machine gun, which he had never heard before, brutally tore through the air.

Anyone would react this way experiencing their first-ever gunfight in a country they’ve never been to.

“Why is this happening…?”

He was discharged as a sergeant from the Republic of Korea Army and had shot a gun before, but this felt completely different.

The sound of gunfire and explosions, and the smell of gunpowder. It was truly the howling of iron and steel tearing through human flesh.

Lee Gyu-sik and the film crew were currently inside a warehouse on the outskirts of the city, where they had received permission to film.

Outside the dilapidated houses, where the doors couldn’t even be locked, gunshots rang out in rapid succession.

Lee Gyu-sik muttered despairingly.

“…I shouldn’t have come here.”

.

.

.

Something went wrong from the start.

It was when they arrived in Girardot, unpacked their luggage at the accommodation, and went out for a short walk.

A group of men smoking something that looked like leaf tobacco in the distance looked their way and shouted.

“Chino! Chino!”

This was a form of racial discrimination common in South America, said to be even worse than in Europe. “Chino” means “Chinese,” and they shout that or imitate slanted eyes with a typical gesture whenever they see an Asian person.

“What are those bastards saying?”

“Leave it. It’s not good to get into a fight with the locals.”

His colleague stopped Lee Gyu-sik, who was about to get angry. Since a large group of people had always been together after arriving in Colombia, there was hardly any chance of such a quarrel.

The characteristics of racists are similar in every country in the world. They’re picking a fight now because they see that there are only a few of them here.

“Tsk, you uncivilized guys. Live like that your whole lives.”

In the end, they glared at the giggling men with unpleasant expressions and walked past.

After a short break, filming continued in various parts of Girardot.

“Cut, next scene.”

And director Gwyn Raymon gave the OK to most of the scenes.

He is originally a director with strong perfectionist tendencies. Except for the scenes led by Park Gun, there were many NGs [no good takes], and they even filmed the same scene dozens of times.

But the fact that the general producer, who always said ‘again,’ didn’t even catch the extras’ mistakes and passed them meant…

“Is something wrong? You seem urgent.”

It was only after asking Kim Yang-ho during the break that he realized the reason why he seemed so strangely anxious.

“Recently, drug dealers fought near here. It was in a village about 3 kilometers away.”

“Yes? I thought this city didn’t have that kind of thing?”

Kim Yang-ho glared at the local guides with a rare, fierce expression.

At the edge of the set, the men from Medellin were pointing gas guns at each other and giggling.

“Those guys lied. They knew there was a gunfight but pretended not to know and followed us, because they would be bothered if we went any further. Jack heard it from a local resident and was furious.”

“No, then we should go to a safe place now…”

“We’ve already unpacked our luggage, how can we do that? We have to film quickly and leave, whether it turns out good or bad.”

Even in that situation, filming continued anyway, and most of the scenes that needed to be filmed were completed.

The problem erupted when filming the chase scene in the middle of the night, after the afternoon and evening filming was over.

Bang!

When the first gunshot was heard, most of the staff just blinked in surprise.

That’s because they’ve only been filming gunfight scenes for the past few months.

When they hear gunshots next to them, it’s natural to be stunned, let alone feel a sense of reality.

‘Uh, is this a real situation?’

When someone said that, the sound of a machine gun started ringing out from a very close distance.

In an instant, the scene became chaotic. People covering their heads screamed, and cinematographer Josh grabbed the nearest person and asked.

“What is this? What’s going on?”

“What else could it be, we’re all screwed!”

Raymon tried to calm the staff, but it wasn’t easy. Sweat was pouring down his forehead as he shouted to stop and not to scatter.

“What about the bodyguards? We hired them!”

“You idiot, those are real guns! What can a few gas guns do?”

Two members of the filming team raised their voices almost as if they were going to devour each other.

In fact, the bodyguards they had hired were of little help. One had disappeared somewhere, and the other three were trembling.

Raymon grabbed one of them by the collar.

“Hey, what’s going on? You said the fight wouldn’t spread to Girardot!”

The man seemed completely terrified by the sound of the machine gun.

Instead of his confident attitude, he trembled like a frightened rabbit and muttered.

“Kaya and Nix… it must be them, if they’re using machine guns and grenades…”

“What about the police? A gunfight broke out in the city, so they’ll be dispatched soon!”

At Raymon’s words, the man shook his head.

“In this small city? The government has abandoned them, and the police value their lives more. They know those guys are fighting for power, so they don’t get involved unless they have to.”

They don’t bother the residents either. The man bit his lip as if casting a spell.

Raymon’s expression gradually distorted as he listened.

“What kind of irresponsible bastards are these…”

They don’t bother the residents, but that’s only for the locals.

The filming staff are no different from tourists. Sixty hostages with no weapons and a lot of luggage.

Will the remnants of those drug dealers really leave alone a useful means of negotiating with the government?

At that moment, a rough shout was heard.

“Hey, you guys!”

The staff turned around, pale, to the direction of the sound.

They hurriedly turned off the lighting equipment, but someone with good eyes must have been there.

A man with a short-barreled submachine gun slung over his shoulder stopped in front of the house they were in.

Raymon, with his hands raised, stepped forward. As if trying to protect the staff, he walked forward and stammered in clumsy Spanish.

“We are not your enemies. We are employees of the authorities who are visiting for a short time…”

“Shut up, you white bastard!”

Compromise didn’t work. The man with a long scar on one cheek pointed his gun with a fierce attitude.

“This is the new district of the Kaya Clan. Take everything inside and come out with your hands up!”

“……”

In the midst of the silence, gunshots echoed again. When the people inside only looked at each other and didn’t come out, the man’s expression turned fierce.

“The three who come out last will die. The more time passes, the less chance you have to live…”

Thud!

The chilling warning was cut off abruptly. Raymon’s eyes widened as he watched the man collapse as if he had been hit by a tranquilizer gun.

Behind the fallen kidnapper stood the Asian actor he had cast.

*

When he first heard the gunshots, Gun thought.

‘Something’s going to happen.’

An accident happens while filming a movie. This is a common occurrence.

Even on Hollywood sets with double and triple safety devices, unexpected situations during filming cannot be completely controlled.

But if it’s a conflict with the authorities… or a gunfight with a drug cartel over the rights to the cannabis cultivation and distribution network, that’s a different story.

‘After Emit Ro, who accounted for 70% of Colombia’s drug distribution, was killed, the organization was scattered and divided into several clans. The guys operating in the central region right now are all remnants of that.’

On his first day in Colombia, he went for a walk alone to gather information.

Perhaps thinking that the night visitor was a troubleshooter hired by the authorities, the former member of the organization readily revealed information.

‘Clan?’

‘It’s just a name they call themselves. Kaya, Nix, Amorta… there aren’t many big guys, but they are all cruel and ruthless. Anyone who doesn’t cooperate is considered a spy for the opposing clan and hung on a telephone pole.’

Telephone pole? Even the Somali pirates who gave him a hard time at the maritime border during his special forces days weren’t that bad.

Should he go and wipe them out in advance? While Gun was pondering, the member of the organization gave a warning.

‘Especially Kaya and Nix, the two clans steal weapons from police armories and set them on fire. I don’t know where you came from, but you should be careful too…’

‘Roman.’

‘Huh?’

A question arose on the face of the old man, who was once one of the major roots of the drug distribution.

Gun kindly explained.

‘Roman, there’s a pretty big company.’

And after entering Girardot, an accident broke out from the first night.

‘I had a bad feeling since I came in.’

No matter how much he expands his senses, he can’t know what’s happening on the other side of the city.

Besides, he’s filming. By the time the day was over and he felt an ominous sign while moving to this filming location, it was already too late.

If three buses full of foreigners leave the city, it will attract attention.

What if another cartel gang is watching and ambushes them while they are moving? That might actually increase the number of casualties.

‘So, the method is…’

Preemptive strike.

Pow!

The scarred man who was hit in the back of the neck collapsed. Gun searched his body and took out the submachine gun, pistol, and small knife.

Until then, the staff, including Raymon, were staring blankly at him. It seemed amazing to see the same scene as ‘God’ in the movie being played out in front of them.

“D… Did you kill him?”

Cinematographer Josh, who was hiding behind, peeked out and asked. Gun dragged the unconscious man over and laid him down in front of the staff.

“Then the problem gets bigger. I only knocked him out.”

“…Th, then why does this person have a gun…”

“I have a use for it.”

Everyone on the staff knew what the word ‘use’ meant.

Raymon, who wiped his forehead, asked.

“Wouldn’t it be better to just get out of here? They’re just fighting among themselves, and there’s no guarantee they’ll come to us again…”

“They’re gathering more and more.”

Gun cut him off. His senses, which had been expanded to the highest level since returning to Earth, continued to pick up footsteps and shouts.

“We could wait. But if the street fight expands and the fighting becomes prolonged, other members of the organization will surely enter the houses. They have to occupy the position and shoot the passing enemy.”

“Th, then what are you going to do! Are you going to go and fight them?”

The staff’s eyes turned to the back. One of the local bodyguards, who had been hiding without saying a word, shouted with a vein in his neck.

“It’s Kaya and Nix, not just anyone! If you do something wrong and the fire spreads to us…”

“The fire has already been set. And they did it first.”

The voice was the same, but the tone contained within it was different from before.

The man who was shouting, as well as the other bodyguards who were trying to say something next to him, closed their mouths.

Gun slung the submachine gun over his shoulder and held the pistol, just like the scarred man had done earlier.

He didn’t have many magazines to check, but this was enough. After all, if he went outside that wall, to the street that was in chaos, ammunition would be rolling around.

“I will secure your safety until the local police arrive.”

Then and now,

Negotiation with the enemy is impossible for a hero.

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