Former Warrior Turns Into A Million-Dollar Actor [EN]: Chapter 78

Former Hero is a Ten Million Actor – Episode 78

The Butcher and the General (4)

* * *

‘The Butcher and the General’ First Broadcast.

The day of reckoning dawned.

At 4 a.m., Park Seon woke up and carefully took a shower, making sure not to wake his parents.

He would then go to Park Geon’s officetel [a Korean term for a multi-purpose building, often used as a residence and office], pick up his brother, and head to the filming set, marking the start of another day.

His heart ached when he thought about how he hadn’t been able to take care of his brother properly, as he had been busy carrying out the special missions his brother had given him from the first day of filming until the first broadcast.

Park Seon, covered in shaving cream, clenched his fist at his reflection in the mirror.

“Don’t be weak, Park Seon. This is all studying to protect my actor.”

Still, there were results. He had followed the men from C&J’s special security team, specially selected by Chief Jin Gyu-il, and learned all sorts of things.

The pomade-haired man, introduced only as ‘Team Leader 1’ without a name or surname, taught him sternly.

‘Most entertainment paparazzi are clumsy at tailing. Whether on foot, motorcycle, or car… they always leave a trace. Once you develop an eye for it, you can distinguish whether they are reporters, paparazzi, fans, or stalkers.’

‘Um, how did you learn about this, Team Leader…?’

Park Seon asked, swallowing hard, and Team Leader 1 replied expressionlessly.

‘Corporate hounds are even more persistent. Some will lie in wait for a week until they get something. The Chief is worried about that aspect.’

At first, he thought it was some kind of spy warfare, but the more he thought about it, the more it made sense.

Unearthing the secret history of Lee Jang-mi and her agency’s CEO was low, but they even attacked his brother’s school days from over a decade ago.

Moreover… this was the entertainment industry, not the business world.

As Team Leader 1 said, they didn’t even need to find anything concrete. They could just throw out small suspicions with an ‘if not, so what’ attitude and succeed in damaging his image.

“Those bad people, they’re definitely still watching for an opportunity.”

That DG and Joinus combination was joined by a remarkable guy, PD [Production Director] Byung Seo-han, who was allied with KBC.

PD Na Jong-mo even sent a separate message to explain Byung Seo-han’s infamy among the staff.

-Seon, be careful of that bastard. In terms of seniority, he was several levels above me, and he’s the type who snatches other people’s rice bowls and puts them on his own table [takes credit for others’ work]. More than ten assistant directors ran away from the drama department because of Byung Seo-han.

As if to prove it, ‘Hyperion,’ which aired a week earlier, received satisfactory ratings.

17.4%.

It surpassed 15% on its first episode, not just 10%. And it was a smooth upward trend without any sharp ups and downs.

Even though terrestrial broadcasting [free-to-air television] was recently weak, it was a result worthy of KBC, which had consistently performed well.

[Highest viewership rating 17.4%… Hyperion, a promising start]

[Byung Seo-han X Moon Han-bin X Kang Young-woong, will they lead KBC’s ‘treasure sword’ in the first half of the year?]

[‘Butcher General’ move aside! ‘Hyperion’ is busy with its own path, “We’ll go first this spring~”]

The media friendly to KBC, and entertainment reporters thirsty for clicks, provoked ‘Butcher General’ with excessively sensational headlines.

It was expected anyway. Since they had filmed a lot in advance, PD Jeon In-woo announced a cool break to coincide with the first broadcast at 9 p.m. on Saturday.

‘What’s the point in life? What we can’t do today, we’ll do tomorrow, what we can’t film at night, we’ll film at dawn. Anyway, when it’s dark, 9 p.m. and 4 a.m. are the same.’

‘Oh, Director!’

‘You’ll collapse if you do that. We’re running a marathon, it’s a 20-episode series!’

The supporting actors and staff screamed, but they were secretly welcoming it.

That’s because the narrative they had built up and the attention they had gathered so far was enormous.

The 111th anniversary of the establishment of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea.

The first large-scale drama with a budget of over 10 billion won prepared by CVN.

A head-on match between Roman and C&J, DG and Joinus.

A newly established cable channel versus a terrestrial channel with a long history.

They wanted to directly confirm the starting point of what would probably be the best showdown of the first half of the year… or maybe even the whole year.

Park Seon went down to the underground parking lot, started the van, and played his brother’s favorite music.

‘A collection of grand fantasy BGM [Background Music]’ played, and the car was instantly filled with orchestral sounds.

“Alright, let’s go head-to-head!”

*

Geunbeom Studio.

Thanks to the unprecedented success of ‘Black Priest,’ Geunbeom, which used to be a small production company, was enjoying a period of unprecedented prosperity.

They hired more staff, and at the end of last year, they even moved from the cramped building where they used to work huddled together to a spacious building.

The largest and best video editing room in Geunbeom Studio, with four 55-inch monitors lined up, was fully opened today.

At 8:30 p.m., CEO Tae Jong-beom ran down barefoot to greet the guests entering the studio.

“Oh, Actor Geon, Manager Seon, it’s been a long time! Our PR Team Leader came with you too?”

The Park Geon brothers and Team Leader Gong Gi-hyung, who were carrying a fruit basket, greeted him happily.

“It’s been a while. Have you been well, CEO?”

“Of course, of course. Thanks to you, we moved the studio to such a prime location. But… look at how much weight you guys have lost, don’t they feed you on the drama set?”

At that moment, a welcome voice was heard from behind CEO Tae, who had become even more massive.

“Hey, you have to say it right. We’re so busy that we can’t even open a lunch box properly.”

“Jang-mi!”

Lee Jang-mi smiled and handed over a bouquet of flowers.

“Congratulations on your new project. I adjusted my filming schedule to come and hang out because it’s the first broadcast screening today.”

“Actress Lee Jang-mi is always welcome. If you have some time after the drama ends…”

“Wow, Team Leader Gong is scouting again!”

Soon after, the C&J family, Jo Hyun-ah and Lee Dong-soo, also arrived and greeted the ‘original’ Park Geon division members.

Park Geon asked Lee Dong-soo, who kept glancing at the editing room door even after sitting down.

“Is there anyone else coming?”

Lee Dong-soo flinched and looked around before whispering in Park Geon’s ear.

“…Baek Ha-ni. You told her to watch the live broadcast that time, so I was wondering if she might come, even though it’s not Roman…”

“She can’t come.”

“Yeeee?”

“I got a call earlier, and she has another filming schedule. It’s a shame.”

Lee Dong-soo drooped his shoulders like an independence fighter who had lost his country. Judging by his muttering, he seemed to have been openly expecting it.

“It would be so much fun if that older sister came… I thought I’d get to witness her throwing her shoes today…”

Park Geon glanced down. Baek Ha-ni’s message was on his smartphone.

[Baek Ha-ni]: Are the filming actors coming too?

[Baek Ha-ni]: I can’t go if there are a lot of people

[Baek Ha-ni]: No, I’m not going

[Baek Ha-ni]: I’m going to watch it at home

[Baek Ha-ni]: Anyway, we’re watching it together, right?

“……”

It was a combination of letters that made him rub his eyes without realizing it. She hardly ever uses her smartphone, and even her spacing was antisocial.

‘Well, she does it her way.’

Still, wasn’t this a great improvement?

When Moon Seong-hoon, Baek Ha-ni’s large manager, rushed over and handed him his phone, he thought he was going to record something.

‘Um, Baek Ha-ni asked me to take down her phone number and tell you not to misunderstand anything or she’ll boycott the filming… I’m sorry, I’m sorry!’

‘No, it’s okay.’

Then she sent a message asking where he was going to watch it and how many people were coming, and then declared that she wouldn’t be attending.

“…Is it because they’re from the same company?”

Jin Ji-yoo also asked who he was going to watch it with today, and it seemed that his company’s actresses had a common characteristic of being shy.

PD Jeon In-woo and writer Young Do-eun, who he was usually close with, said they would watch it in the CVN main control room, and the rest of his acquaintances sent messages of encouragement, saying they would watch the live broadcast.

The broadcast time soon arrived.

While commercials were playing on the giant monitor, CEO Tae Jong-beom stepped forward.

“Everyone, thank you for gathering at my humble company. I am Tae Jong-beom, the CEO in charge of external production at Geunbeom Studio…”

“Director, it’s starting now. The promotion is over.”

CEO Tae quickly stepped back at Lee Jang-mi’s sharp remark, and the screen went dark as the commercials ended.

Soon, white letters appeared in order.

The 35 years of Japanese colonial rule.

The Joseon royal family lost its power from the roots,

And the era when imperialism was increasingly tyrannical.

Amidst the exploitation of the invaders and the contempt of their compatriots,

There was a man in Gyeongseong’s [old name for Seoul] marketplace wearing the mask of a butcher.

*

Hahoe Byeolsingut Mask Dance.

The butcher, also known as Huigwang, appears in the second act.

He knocks down the head of a bull three times with an ax head and performs a sword dance, revealing his function as a slaughterer.

The opening of ‘Butcher General’ fully demonstrates the motifs obtained from this Byeolsingut Mask Dance.

Lee Mak-soe, a butcher who runs a small butcher shop in a corner of Gyeongseong’s marketplace.

And Lee Cheon-in, the young son of that Lee Mak-soe.

At the fingertips of Lee Yeo-seon, the editing director who is rumored to apply amazing color correction to historical dramas, the Gaehwa [period of modernization in Korea] period fills the screen more realistically than reality.

-Get out of the way, you lowly thing!

A middle-aged gentleman dressed in a modern suit pushes Lee Mak-soe as if kicking him.

It’s not a Japanese official or a Japanese policeman. He is despised by a Joseon [Korean dynasty] person with the same blood flowing through him.

-Oh, I’m sorry! Please come in!

-We should have gathered them in the mountains to live like before, it’s disgusting every time I see them… They’re no different from bandits.

The young Lee Cheon-in glares at the back of the gentleman who mutters contemptuously and walks away with a distorted expression.

At that moment, a thick hand comes over his head.

-What are you so angry about?

-That awful man did that to my father…

-What can we do? We are of butcher’s blood, and they are descendants of the nobility.

-The class system is gone now! We’re all slaves of the Japanese, what’s the difference between nobility and commoners!

A bitter smile spreads across the face of Lee (異) Mak-soe. His surname is Chinese, and his name is a commoner.

Even during the Japanese colonial period, the class system did not completely disappear. Even among the commoners, those who were despised like butchers had to endure the exploitation under Japanese rule and the discrimination of the Korean people.

-There is no shameful job in the world. But everything is made and destroyed by humans.

-I don’t understand.

When the young Cheon-in tilts his head, Lee Mak-soe smiles and kneels on one knee.

-Cheon-in, remember this.

-That we are butchers?

-No. Your name is not Cheon-in (賤人) [lowly person], but Cheon-in (穿人) [piercing person], a man who will pierce this world.

The eyes of the butcher father and the butcher’s son meet in the air.

And then another scene flows.

Lee Mak-soe is framed for participating in the independence movement and is shot while running away from the Japanese police officers who came to the butcher shop.

-I guess that’s his son. He may have helped his father, so take him with you.

-Let go of me, you son of a bitches! Father, Father!

The police officers trample on him with their muddy feet, but the young Cheon-in, who is hugging Lee Mak-soe’s corpse, struggles and screams.

His eyes are bloodshot and tears of blood are flowing down, and his young but bright face is covered in his father’s blood and dirt.

-Son, the sword is a monster born to receive blood. If you catch an animal, five people will eat their fill, but if you kill a person, a hundred people will die in a row. Therefore, we must be careful not to wield the sword we use in vain.

Lee Mak-soe, the butcher, was lowly in status, but he learned to read and write on his own and had conviction and insight.

Was that why? The drama doesn’t tell us exactly whether Lee Mak-soe really participated in the independence movement or whether it was a false accusation.

It only illuminates the pain of the remaining Lee Cheon-in, a child who is chased away by the people of Gyeongseong.

“Hey, this is too much!”

Park Doo-yi, who was watching the live broadcast with his girlfriend at home instead of carrying luggage in Laos for the first time in a while, slammed the table.

The solid wood table creaks as if it will be broken by the fighter’s pounding.

“Why, oppa [term for older brother or boyfriend used by females]? It’s just a drama.”

“No, that… those crazy red bastards, why don’t they help our Cheon-in! He’s obviously going to grow up well and become a super strong independence fighter!”

“…Why are the reds coming out here?”

Park Doo-yi’s girlfriend didn’t know whether to laugh or stop him.

Wasn’t he the most sincere person when it came to exercise?

When he first became a celebrity fan, she was happy that he seemed to have a hobby, but before she knew it, he had become a master of over-immersion.

-Come with me, Cheon-in.

The play flows again, and Lee Cheon-in, who barely survived, meets the foreign missionary James Campbell.

-If I leave Joseon with you, I won’t be able to come back, right?

-No, that’s not true. But I don’t want you to set foot on this land.

James Campbell, who had only been there for a short time, had fully felt Cheon-in’s status and the discrimination caused by it.

It is difficult to fathom the wounded young heart, as the national fortune has already declined and even the same people have driven harsh nails into him.

However… Lee Cheon-in raises his head.

-I’ll be back.

-Cheon-in!

-I will definitely come back and make them pay the price. To the Japanese who trampled on this land with guns and swords, to the Joseon people who despised and ignored my father, and…

Clear red blood flows down his chin from his clenched lips. Leaving James Campbell, who doesn’t know what to do, the son of the butcher declares.

‘Even to the traitors of the dirty nation.’

*

Episode 1 of ‘Butcher and General’ has ended.

The actors sitting around in the editing room stared at the screen showing commercials without saying a word.

Breaking through the heated silence, PR Team Leader Gong Gi-hyung took out his phone and answered a call.

“Oh, what’s the final tally… what?”

The voice on the other side of the phone, probably a PR team employee, urgently says something.

Park Geon is still sitting with a calm expression, and the rest of the ‘Butcher General’ actors, Lee Jang-mi, and CEO Tae Jong-beom are waiting with sweaty hands.

Finally, Team Leader Gong, who hung up the phone, turns to the people and spreads out ten fingers.

“Hyperion is 15%, we are 13%. Both sides did well in their own way.”

Sighs of relief or regret come out from here and there.

Although they somewhat cut into the 17% viewership rating of ‘Hyperion,’ the score of 13% is still disappointing, even considering the difference between the second and first episodes.

“Still, isn’t that good enough? We can just keep going and take Moon Han-bin’s head [beat him in the ratings].”

“That’s right. They said that historical dramas usually explode in viewership as the narrative builds up. Looking at it today, the potential is different from Hyperion.”

Lee Dong-soo raises the tension, and Lee Jang-mi also chimes in, but Team Leader Gong’s expression is somehow strange.

Jo Hyun-ah, sensing the strange atmosphere, asks.

“Why, is there a problem?”

As expected, a telegram calling for a fight flies from Team Leader Gong’s mouth.

“Articles are pouring out as soon as it ended. They’re saying our drama is historical distortion, glorification of Japan, and colonial historiography.”

* * *