Former Warrior Turns Into A Million-Dollar Actor [EN]: Chapter 41

A Strange Sense of Déjà Vu (3)

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The heat had completely subsided.

The attire of the people on set changed, and the wind brushing against the skin began to feel quite chilly.

Even amidst all this, the camera crank kept turning.

“Look at how much script is left. We’re filming fast.”

“The director is on a roll. They say he’s already planning the color correction, editing, and ADR [Automated Dialogue Replacement – re-recording dialogue in post-production] even while filming like this. He doesn’t even go home after shooting; he starts on the rough cut.”

“Wow, without an editor? Does he even have the time?”

“He sleeps less than an hour a day. He’s working himself to death.”

On one side of the set, two staff members chatted while waiting for their standby call.

Although the lead actor, who accounts for most of the footage, doesn’t make many mistakes, the speed is still record-breaking.

After a few minutes, Director Kim Ryul, looking gaunt, staggered out. In one hand, he held a megaphone; in the other, a can of energy drink.

“Let’s get ready, everyone.”

Bartender 1: (Smoking behind the bar) Hey, did you see the news? It’s seriously creepy.

Bartender 2: I know, right? It’s like some psychopath hung the corpses on trees with their arms spread out. And they removed all the organs… Ah, you scared me!

Seo Yohan: (Grabbing the bartender’s arm, in a serious tone) What did you just say?

Bartender 2: Dude, don’t you check the internet? It’s been all over the place since this morning.

Seo Yohan returns home and flips through the pages of an old Bible under the light of a lamp.

Seo Yohan: (Solemn narration) Gutted organs, hung corpses… I remember seeing some kind of ritual like this before…

Cut, and another jump.

Filming a movie is no different from filming a drama. The order of shooting scenes is all mixed up.

For the past few days, they had been filming several scenes from the mid to late parts of the movie, and from this afternoon, they were scheduled to film scenes that would appear relatively early in the movie.

“Detective Kim, the forensic team called. They didn’t find anything again?”

“These crazy bastards… Their skill at erasing traces is just professional. How did they manage to get so many people to follow them without any resistance?”

Jang Seong-hwa, or rather, Detective Kim Hwang-cheol, slams his desk.

It’s the fourth time already, and they haven’t caught a single lead. They suspected it was a black market organ harvesting disguised as a serial killing, but after investigating, that wasn’t the case either.

The higher-ups are constantly pressuring them, and the media is in an uproar. This crazy bastard is driving all the police in the district insane.

A junior detective suddenly speaks up.

“It’s like a ghost is playing tricks. Could it be that they’re possessed by a demon, like that priest said…?”

“Ah, that priest in the robe, the crazy one?”

A few days ago, a crazy guy kept appearing near the crime scenes.

‘Let me in. If I just see the bodies once, I can tell you!’

The crime scenes are off-limits, and they threatened to charge him with obstruction of justice if he kept it up, but the tall guy stubbornly persisted.

What was it he said? He said he smelled a demon…?

“Turns out he’s a real priest. They said he was excommunicated from the church, anyway, he’s totally out there.”

“A priest? Hey, get me his file. We took down his information when we brought him to the precinct, right?”

“Yes, sir. It’s all done.”

He has an alibi, but since he’s been seen all over the place, they need to investigate him. Even if he’s not a suspect, he could be a key person related to the case.

The junior detective hands over the file and mutters.

“But that guy, he’s really something else.”

“Something else?”

“You’ll see when you read it.”

Kim Hwang-cheol skims through the file he received and lets out a hollow laugh.

“Parents died in a robbery when he was six, the criminal who killed his parents also died in a mental hospital, the church he was adopted into burned down… What is this, a criminal’s profile instead of a priest’s?”

The scene switches again.

Seo Yohan, chased away by the police, persistently searches the area near the crime scene.

The reason he’s convinced it’s the work of a demon is the smell. A putrid stench of rotting meat stings his nose at every site.

Ordinary people might not notice it, but a priest who has fought demons for a long time can tell.

‘They’ve erased the traces cleanly. There are at least two demons… They’re moving as an organized group.’

The police were tight-lipped, but even with the leaked information, the traces of the demon are clear. The mutilation of organs is an act of offering sacrifices, and hanging the corpses is a typical method of worship by those who blaspheme God.

After persistent inquiries, Seo Yohan meets a family member of one of the victims.

“He… hasn’t been coming home much lately.”

The victim’s wife, with sunken cheeks, confides in the priest who came to see her.

“It was last March, I think, that he was laid off from his job. After that, he just went to work at a friend’s store sometimes… I worked to support us. He was just staying home, and then he started going out a few months ago.”

“Were there any particular people he was meeting? Any changes that were visible on the outside?”

“I don’t really know about that… Oh, he did ask me something strange. He came in late at night without taking off his clothes… and stood right there where you’re standing now.”

“Something strange…?”

The wife frowned as if retracing her memories.

“What was it… something about a society, and whether to save or be saved… something like that.”

Seo Yohan’s eyes gleam. Society and salvation, typical lines of demon worshippers.

“Oh, and there was a smell too. I thought something had gotten on his suit, but when I looked, it was clean.”

The shoulders of the priest’s robe stiffen so much that they’re visible even through his clothes. A rigid voice, barely suppressing his emotions, leaks out.

“…What kind of smell was it?”

“Hmm, like when you open a garbage can… yeah, exactly like the smell of rotten eggs.”

That’s what people often say when they smell the stench of sulfur for the first time. Like the smell of rotten food, the smell of rotten eggs.

Old nightmares resurface after twenty years.

He’s back.

One of the main reasons that filming takes so long is the moving and setting up of equipment.

Even if it’s been modernized, there’s still a lot of equipment to take care of, especially in the lighting department, where some of the equipment is so heavy that even strong men struggle to lift it.

‘Kim Ryul’s crew,’ which has fewer staff compared to the budget, is always short-handed.

“Let me take that.”

“Ah, wait a second…”

The youngest member of the lighting team turns around with a flustered expression, but the bag has already been snatched away.

“Actor Park, it’s too high! What if you get hurt…!”

Park Geon doesn’t listen when you tell him. The lead actor, carrying a mountain of equipment, even puts the bag he just took on top of it.

“First of all, I’m fine. And I’ll make sure that the equipment, which is more expensive than me, doesn’t get hurt either.”

“Oh, that’s not what I meant!”

Maybe it’s because he’s from a special forces unit, but he climbs the slope where vehicle access is impossible, carrying all the luggage with ease.

In the end, Park Geon stopped his logistics acrobatics only after moving all the filming equipment for the day.

‘Wow, if we had carried those up and down one by one…’

The lighting team staff, wiping away sweat, bowed deeply and offered their thanks.

“Thank you so much, Actor Park.”

“It’s nothing. It’s good exercise.”

“You always help us… I’m sorry, but thank you. You’re totally our problem solver on set.”

Park Geon asked back as if he had misheard.

“What did you just say?”

He’s not someone who basically looks kind, just because he’s excessively handsome. The staff member, startled without realizing it, shrank back.

“Th-that you’re a problem solver…”

“Wouldn’t ‘hero’ sound better than ‘problem solver’? The actual meaning is also like that.”

“Yes? Ah, yes. I guess so.”

What’s so different about the two, Park Geon, who had a strangely proud look on his face, left.

The people left behind each took out their smartphones and started searching.

“…Is that a trendy term among the MZ generation [Millennials and Generation Z] these days?”

“What are you talking about? The actor isn’t that much older than us.”

About two hours later.

A small problem occurred with one of the filming equipment.

Production PD [Production Director] and assistant director Han Sang-yoon borrowed a car and hurriedly went to the nearby production office to get it.

When filming is delayed, chatting is the answer. The staff who had dinner gathered in a temporary outdoor rest area in the corner of the set.

Today’s topic is also the problem solver on set.

“Did you guys see Actor Park? He carried all the lighting team’s equipment by himself again.”

“Wow… I witnessed that before? It’s no joke, he looked like an acrobat.”

“Yesterday, he saved Kim Kang-woo from being crushed by the LED light. If it weren’t for the actor, his disc would have burst again and he’d be lying down.”

Heartwarming stories are pouring out from everywhere.

Volunteering at a dog shelter, paying for fans’ meals, these external heartwarming stories, but for the staff on set, the star’s attitude is much more important.

“The actor bought this coffee too. Everyone, make sure to thank him later!”

“Equipment support for the filming team, coffee support… These days, he even takes care of the actors.”

It’s already widely known that the aftereffects of method acting, which had been making the set uncomfortable, have improved significantly since the Park Geon brothers started eating with Lee Jang-mi.

When someone asked him if he was stressed, he replied:

‘Since we become enemies when we start acting anyway, isn’t the reality less than that? If I think of her as Lee Jang-mi Yu-won, it’s nothing.’

It’s not just his personality that’s great.

Usually, when the filming reaches the middle, the people on set get tired. The director and staff are working hard, and the actors are immersed in acting and fulfilling their schedules.

But that actor over there, Park Geon, doesn’t rest.

‘No way, you’re already here?’

‘I don’t need much sleep. My brother will come later.’

It’s common for the lead actor to arrive at the set earlier than the staff.

Not only does he load and unload heavy equipment from the car, but whenever someone needs a hand, he appears from somewhere, solves the problem, and disappears.

At first, they suspected it was because of the contract with the agency. It’s Roman, after all. They say there’s a special clause in the contract for ‘maintaining personality.’

But… now everyone knows what kind of person Park Geon is. You can fool the public, but you can’t fool the staff.

“Oh, did you all hear? Actor Park is doing an interview this time.”

“An interview? Where?”

When one of the staff members brought it up, the rest of the people reacted enthusiastically.

“Pogue [Likely a play on “Vogue”, a fashion magazine]. He said he’s going to do it after the wrap-up and it’ll be released before the premiere, so please watch it a lot.”

“No way, promoting at this timing?”

“That’s Actor Park’s charm. I heard he suddenly went out in front while we were eating and said, ‘I have something to say.’ You should have seen the director’s anxious expression at that time.”

The listeners burst into laughter.

“When the interview comes out, we should spread it in every group chat. I wonder if he’ll talk about our movie too?”

“Of course. That’s why he’s doing the interview.”

“No, he might just do the interview for himself.”

While opinions were being exchanged, Jo Geum-ji, the youngest member of the lighting team, wrapped her cup with dreamy eyes.

A handsome and well-mannered actor?

I’ve seen a lot of them while working in this industry. People who are the kindest in the world in front of the camera, but whose personalities completely change when the shot is cut.

I know they have their own difficulties. How can I blame anyone for ignoring a humble pebble when they are a star that I can’t even dare to look at?

But Park Geon is consistently upright. It’s almost unbelievable, like a hero from a superhero movie who has jumped into reality.

“Hey, Jo Geum-ji.”

The team leader, who noticed like a ghost, poked her in the side.

“Don’t fall for celebrities. You shouldn’t do that.”

“I didn’t fall for him.”

“You’re kidding me. Honey is just dripping from your eyes.”

Jo Geum-ji resolutely glared.

“Team leader.”

“What is it now.”

“I didn’t fall for him. I just completely fell in love.”

The patient is already in critical condition. The team leader let out a sigh.