Former Warrior Turns Into A Million-Dollar Actor [EN]: Chapter 6

Oozing and Scouting (4)

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Sergeant Park Geon’s discharge celebration ended close to three in the morning.

They had put away ten servings of meat and over seven bottles of soju between the three of them.

Two were completely drunk, but Geon was fine. It seemed this body had issues not only with its senses but also with its internal organs.

“Why aren’t you getting drunk, huh? Did you get some kind of liver enhancement surgery in the unit?”

“You’re the one who needs to come to your senses, Young-ho. You’re always having dinner with the chief, so why is your alcohol tolerance so low?”

After stuffing the heavily intoxicated Bae Myung-ho into a taxi, Seo Seung-ah grumbled as she turned on her ride-hailing app.

It was the result of stubbornly drinking soju, insisting that a lawyer couldn’t lose to a junior prosecutor in drinking.

“Hey, make sure to contact me.”

“About what?”

“The audition. I’ll look over the contract terms for you.”

“Seon-i said she’d help.”

“What does a rookie manager know? You need to check for any weird, exploitative clauses from those broadcasting guys.”

“I haven’t even said I’ll do it yet.”

Seo Seung-ah stamped her foot, looking frustrated.

“What’s there to think about? You’ve wanted to do something like this for a while. A program where units compete against each other. You wanted to improve the special forces’ image and honor your comrades and your father.”

Was that so? Seo Seung-ah seemed to take his silence as agreement.

“Being an actor is a hundred times better than being an entertainer. You got offers when you were in uniform, right?”

“Well, yes.”

“Then it’s a done deal. If not a soldier, then a former soldier, they’ll at least give you roles that suit you.”

“Why does a lawyer know so much about the entertainment industry? Did you used to be into that scene?”

Seo Seung-ah’s face, already flushed from the alcohol, turned even redder.

“What are you talking about? I don’t stan [support/obsess over] anyone. And…”

“And?”

“Eun Hee-wook is much more entertaining than Kwak Nam-mae, who wrote ‘Lord of Despair.’ His story details have been good since he debuted with that lawyer drama.”

“Sure, you don’t stan anyone. That’s totally stanning.”

The taxi she had called finally arrived. Seo Seung-ah quickly got in, stuck her head out, and shouted.

“Make sure to contact me! Not me, Eun Hee-wook!”

In the taxi on the way back, Geon reread the text message he had received a few hours earlier.

010-2XXX-8XXX

Park Geon-ssi, this is Eun Hee-wook. I would like you to audition for the role of Choi Seung in my upcoming JNBC drama. Details are attached separately.

When he called Park Seon after receiving the text, he immediately got the go-ahead.

-Hyung, do it right away!

‘Are you sure it’s okay?’

-Why wouldn’t it be? It’s not like that writer is at Roman [referring to a rival agency]. Don’t worry about me and go see it, no matter what!

He was supposed to be working a logistics center part-time job while looking for another road manager position, but in the background, he could hear someone shouting, ‘Park Seon-ssi! Can you help me here!’

-Anyway, Hyung, I have to go again, so let’s talk when I get off work. Make sure to reply right away, okay?

Audition… It wasn’t an unfamiliar word.

He had been street-casted a few times before. A fairly well-known agency had offered him a job as a model and actor, but they backed off when he refused.

That was already seven or eight years ago.

He had only scared some punk, but was the impact that great because of the military uniform?

As he was pondering these thoughts and got out of the taxi, he sensed a familiar presence within a few meters.

‘They’ve come looking.’

As he walked up to his apartment, Eun Hee-wook, who had been sitting on the stairs, stood up and smiled. He was still wearing that modified hanbok [traditional Korean clothing].

“Wow, you’re not even surprised. What a waste of waiting until dawn.”

“I had a bit to drink.”

Eun Hee-wook scanned Geon up and down with a curious look.

“You look like the most sober person in the world… Anyway, have you given it some thought?”

“I’ve never acted in my life.”

“I told you, it’s not a role that requires acting ability. You just need to be able to create the atmosphere you had when you took down that Roman manager. The important things are the action and the mask anyway.”

Even if the role was like that, he couldn’t understand why a writer would come looking for him at this hour.

“Why me?”

When Geon asked directly, the smile disappeared from Eun Hee-wook’s face.

“I had an idea.”

“An idea?”

Eun Hee-wook paused for a moment.

“I grew up in the countryside when I was young. My second uncle was a famous dog butcher. When I followed my uncle around, all the dogs in the neighborhood would whimper and tuck their tails. They would drool and pee like they had seen a ghost.”

“Isn’t it because they recognize someone who killed their own kind?”

“That’s right, Choi Seung is like that. A bred human butcher. Someone who has been covered in human blood since birth, making everyone who sees him wary. He’s a necessary character in the drama.”

Geon felt a strange sense of déjà vu.

Wasn’t it similar to what he had done as a warrior? Killing demons, killing corrupt humans and heterogenous beings, and living by repeating those two things.

There’s a saying that if you kill ten thousand people, you become a hero.

But what if you tore those ten thousand people apart with your own hands?

You’re just a crazy butcher.

“Park Geon-ssi. What do you think is the fun of drama, the fun of life?”

“I don’t know.”

“It’s unexpectedness. It’s fun to be so attached to a regular person I met by chance, and it would be fun if your acting skills were so terrible that you’d be embarrassed at the audition…”

“What if I say I can’t do it?”

Writter Eun Hee-wook sighed.

“I’ll just use any of the existing actors. It’ll save me the audition fee, which is good. I was going to pay a lot out of my own pocket.”

Geon thought.

‘I’ll need some money in the future.’

The struggle to survive was fiercely unfolding in this world as well.

A disabled father and a mother selling foreign cars late into the night, a younger sibling heading to work at the logistics center.

The memories of this world and that world that have not yet returned.

Even for the sake of food, it was not a challenge to avoid.

“I’ll do it.”

The audition venue was prepared.

In the case of a general audition, it only needs space for the production team to sit, but acting is not the only important thing for the role of Choi Seung.

Action, chemistry, and atmosphere must all be assessed, so props are essential, and space is also needed.

Two staff members carrying set props and equipment took a break and whispered.

“We could just use the actors we have, but he always likes that unique thing.”

“They’re both detail freaks. Look, they even called the director of photography and the martial arts director to watch together.”

“So who’s coming today? If it’s Writer Eun’s pick, is it another unknown?”

“I don’t know. I heard that this time it’s not even an actor, just some random street casting…”

The staff’s voices stopped abruptly.

The back door of the audition venue opened, and a man in a shabby suit walked in.

“Oh…”

An exclamation came from someone’s mouth.

There’s an old saying that actors have an aura.

But the person who came in looked like an actor to anyone, no, like a hired ‘professional.’

A strikingly tall height, a cheap-looking one-button navy suit, short hair, and wild features.

Even though he was wearing a loosely fitting suit, the body that was faintly visible under his shirt gave off a sense of intimidation.

“I’m Park Geon, here for the audition today.”

“Ah, yes, everything is ready now, and the production team will be here soon. Please wait over there for a moment.”

The man spoke to the staff, then sat down on the waiting chair without any sign of nervousness.

He looked at least 185cm tall, and his mask changed strangely depending on the angle, but more than that, a strange aura was swirling around him.

Like a retired detective, or an inmate who had lived in prison for decades before being released….

The two staff members simultaneously met each other’s eyes.

And nodded their heads greatly.

“Writer Eun’s picks never fail.”

“He’s not a scout for nothing.”

“I don’t know where he picks out those people, even though entertainment headhunters are complaining that there’s no talent.”

The female staff member who had been talking about street casting seriously put her hands together.

“Please do well, please.”

Geon thinks.

‘I’ve come.’

They said they rented an office just for the audition, but the space was wider than the small room he had imagined.

People in staff uniforms were walking around, and several large cameras were installed.

“Please do well, please.”

One of the staff members who had been staring at him since he came in muttered, but Geon didn’t show it and turned his smartphone to silent.

‘The atmosphere here is good, they even cheer you on.’

In fact, he had accepted the offer half because of the money and half because of interest.

A former warrior is not a god. Nutrients must be ingested for metabolism to be possible, and from what he had experienced for a few days, this body consumed a lot of fuel unnecessarily.

When he looked into it, security company employees and bodyguards had strict interviews and didn’t get paid much.

On the other hand, here he would get 300,000 won just for attending the audition, and if his appearance was confirmed, he would get quite a bit for each episode.

It seemed that there were additional allowances for a supporting role with action.

Geon looked down at his calloused hands.

Sergeant Park Geon of the Special Forces was also capable, but he couldn’t compare to now.

In that he had returned after thirty years of destructive operations.

‘If it doesn’t work out, should I go abroad?’

A former warrior is like an incarnate of materialized violence. CQC [Close Quarters Combat], marksmanship? Even in his Special Forces days, there was no one who could shoot better than him.

If he made use of this skill and went to mercenaries or PMCs [Private Military Companies], or other places where violence was needed….

“Oh, Park Geon-ssi?”

A man with a thick neck and narrow eyes walked over busily and held out a hand.

“Yes, that’s me.”

“I’m Na Jong-mo, the general PD [Production Director]. I’ve heard a lot about you. Writer Eun has been praising you quite a bit. Ah, the writer said he’ll be here soon.”

Shaking the hand he had grabbed, the PD’s face, which quickly scanned Geon, showed satisfaction.

“First of all, the atmosphere is the best. You’re much more suited to Choi Seung than the other three.”

“Thank you.”

“A real soldier, and from the Special Forces?”

“Yes. I was discharged a few days ago.”

“Then action directing… no, let’s just talk to our martial arts director.”

“I understand.”

PD Na Jong-mo smiled brightly and punched the air with his short, crocodile-like arms.

“You don’t need to warm up? The other actors do shadow boxing with their managers for thirty minutes?”

Geon looked at the PD. A body with only thick flesh and almost no muscle, a physique with terrible explosiveness and endurance.

Most of the people he had seen on the way here were like that. If there was just one fully grown demon dog, Seoul would be a living hell.

Instead of saying that it would be okay even if all the staff here rushed at him, he just nodded.