Godsent Top Star [EN]: Chapter 110

If You’ve Done Wrong, Accept the Punishment (1)

110 If You’ve Done Wrong, Accept the Punishment (1)

2022.02.18.

“I’m curious why you think so?” The answer came simply. “Well, you’re the only one who could spread that story so skillfully and stimulatingly, enough to gather that many reporters.”
“Judging by the thorns in your voice, I guess it’s not a compliment.” The smile hanging on Woo Do-gyeom’s lips deepened. “How could it be a compliment? What did our team just go through there?” They were floundering in a flood of very base and low-quality interest. And what’s more, most of the people there weren’t even curious about the exact facts. They were only interested in the misfortune of others. How stimulating it was. How much it would arouse public interest. That was all they cared about. ‘It was very… disgusting.’ This is a fact that can be read even without the ability to understand intentions. There are things to see, hear, and smell, so it’s impossible not to know. Just thinking about it brought contempt to every word he spoke. But.
“Hmm. Why are you getting angry?”
“……?” What is this perplexing reaction? “Are you asking sincerely?”
“Of course. Sincere, why?” Yeon-woo looked into Woo Do-gyeom’s eyes. Before, he wouldn’t have been able to read anything thanks to his poker face… ‘Trying to weasel out of it.’ Since I also have a poker face, false masks are useless…
[Truth]
“……” What is it? This isn’t the time for this to pop up? ‘Is something wrong?’ Yeon-woo glared at Woo Do-gyeom again. But.
[Truth] The result of the intention analysis that was still floating didn’t change. “Is there a problem, Gun?”

“……I just realized you’re even more abnormal than I thought……” It doesn’t make sense to think about it normally. ‘No, how can you ask why I’m angry there?’ Moreover, that’s the truth. This means only one thing. Woo Do-gyeom had no idea why Yeon-woo was angry. ‘……Since he’s a very smart person, there’s a high possibility that he noticed what I’m saying, though.’ But that’s it. He may know the reason, but he clearly doesn’t understand this situation sincerely. Otherwise, there’s no way he’d be floating ‘Truth’ so nonchalantly. “Hmm. Why do you think so? I’ve been trying to be diligent in front of Gun, you know,” Woo Do-gyeom asked with a smiling face. “You’re diligent?” Even a passing dog would laugh. “Since you don’t seem to understand, I’ll explain. Am I angry? Of course, I am. You made me receive such base attention, so of course, I should be angry, shouldn’t I?”
“Base, you say. I’m curious on what basis you say that?”
“How much humanity and noble reasons could there be in the questions poured out on people who have gone through difficult times, in a state where they might have trauma, without any consideration?”
“Well, I guess you could think that way. But think about it carefully,” Woo Do-gyeom said. “This was a very good opportunity. Something no one expected. In other words, it’s an opportunity that no one can easily get.”
“……Excuse me?” What kind of novel bullsh*t is that? Yeon-woo’s eyebrows contorted strangely once again. “Going on a shoot and getting stranded. Experiencing a crisis for several days. Then everyone dramatically returns safely. Isn’t this a dramatic scenario? Nowadays, everyone is so quick-witted that they don’t react to most events. But what Gun experienced is not. It’s perfectly real, itself. And people are more enthusiastic about realistic dramas with such stories.”
“……”

“Maybe many people knew about the movie because of this incident. Because the impact is so great, it won’t be easily forgotten. Even if it is forgotten, it doesn’t matter. Rather, if you just open the floodgates a little, they’ll quickly remember it again. That kind of story won’t be easily forgotten. That’s why I said it’s a very good opportunity.”
“……” ‘The movie made by that movie team that was stranded at that time’, ‘The movie filmed in the actual stranded location’ These modifiers will stimulate people’s curiosity. If the story keeps coming up, they’ll unknowingly become tempted. ‘This is talked about a lot, should I watch it once?'” Woo Do-gyeom leaned back in his seat and added leisurely. “Then it’s bound to be a hit. It can’t help but be a very good opportunity.” An opportunity that can’t help but succeed. Woo Do-gyeom’s explanation sounded plausible at first glance. By highlighting a special event that others have not experienced and exaggerating it to attract attention. Because it is a dramatic fact, it can draw more dramatic attention. That’s right. It’s not wrong. Besides, as manager Lee Gyu-han said, isn’t the entertainment industry a world where you can only survive if you receive that ‘attention’? But.
“No.”
“Hmm? What do you mean no?” Woo Do-gyeom asked back as if he really couldn’t understand. It was a look that said, ‘I’ve told you this much, and it’s still not enough?’ “I said no because it’s not. What you’re saying is all a result-oriented story.” That anything can be used as long as it can attract attention. In other words… ‘It’s a very violent thing to say.’ There will definitely be people who agree with Woo Do-gyeom’s words. But what about those who don’t? This incident alone is like that. If Woo Do-gyeom had asked for understanding in advance, the story might have been a little different. Yeon-woo might have agreed with Woo Do-gyeom’s opinion and proceeded with the work. But.

“The order is wrong.” This is very rude and impolite. It’s like being forced to show raw, unrefined pain to an unspecified number of people. What’s the difference between that and saying that human dignity can be thrown away for the sake of attention? Can the movie team members gladly accept the attention gained in that way? ‘At least it’s definitely not the path I want.’ The path I jumped into to gain lifespan. I came in to live, but that doesn’t mean that anything other than lifespan is meaningless. I don’t want to gain lifespan in that way. “What if someone really got seriously hurt? What if someone died? You made such a big deal out of it and gathered all the people, so if that happened, you would have completely ruined it? It would have been a big hit [sarcastic]. You would have been too busy going broke [paying damages].”
“I proceeded with the judgment that there was almost no possibility of that happening, so it wouldn’t have happened.”
“How can you be so sure about that?”
“The young master of the Kwon family who asked me said so. That young master is a bit of a softie, but he only says what he means, so there was no reason not to believe him.”
“Is Kwon Seong-hyun a prophet? To get everything right? What if he was wrong? That would have completely ruined the movie.” Woo Do-gyeom tilted his head. It was as if he was saying, ‘So what?’
“Well, that wouldn’t have been bad either.”
“……What?”
“It would have been a hit in a different direction. More attention tends to be focused on tragic news. Do you know why Romeo and Juliet are still talked about? That’s because the story ends very tragically. Come to think of it, it might have been easier to attract attention if there had been an accident.”
“……” Is this human a psychopath? Yeon-woo momentarily pondered. “It would have been a little difficult if it was an actor, but it might have been better if it was a director? The treatment of a posthumous work is always good. It wouldn’t have been bad to market it in that direction…” Woo Do-gyeom’s words, which he was muttering seriously while stroking his chin as if he was quite interested, were cut off by a cold voice that came in the middle. “Please pull over the car.”
“……I think… um? What did you just say?”
“I said pull over the car.”
“Pull over the car? Here?” It was in the middle of the highway heading to Seoul. However, there was not a hint of hesitation in Yeon-woo’s voice answering. “Yes.”
“Did you go crazy for a moment?”
“No. I just don’t want to ride in the same car with someone worse than a ghost.”
“Someone worse than a ghost, are you talking about me?”
“Who else is there besides you here?” I knew from the first time I saw him that he was a twisted human being. ‘A human who thinks of kidnapping from the start, instead of politely asking for a favor, can’t be a proper human being.’ It was already a known fact. I turned a blind eye to it because the reason was for the children. Plus, there was the ambiguous absolution that he used extreme methods on Kwon Seong-hyun’s guard. But… ‘From the beginning, normal people don’t go to extreme methods.’ What makes a living person better than a ghost? It’s humanity. Being able to get angry, happy, or sad together. That kind of empathy. There are other factors that separate the living from the dead, but that’s the first thing that comes to Yeon-woo’s mind. If you don’t care about the means and methods for the sake of the purpose, what’s the difference between that and what a ghost would do? ‘If necessary, I’ll write a talisman [a mystical charm], wear spiritual power [a form of energy], and jump off, what.’ It sounds like crazy thinking, but Yeon-woo had the ability to do so. Spiritual power is not a panacea, so what he has filled up will be running low. “Are you perhaps angry?”
“……Are you asking me that to tease me right now?”
“I’m really asking because I’m curious.”
[Truth] The intention analysis status window popped up without any sense. “Really. Do you really not know what’s wrong?”
“If I knew, would I have asked? I think I gave Gun the best support. Especially this one was a very proper marketing tool, so I just actively used it.”
“I’m going crazy……”
“Is something missing? Or is it lacking?”
“It’s not a story of that dimension.”
“Then?”
“……” Yeon-woo glared at the ‘Truth’ status window floating around as if teasing him. ‘This human, does he really not know?’ How can that be? I thought he wasn’t normal, but I didn’t know he was this out of his mind. The problem is. ‘I’m going crazy.’ As I thought that, I felt the scorching heat that had risen to the tip of my chin subside. “From what I see, Gun is not the kind of person who would do something reckless enough to jump out of a moving car. But the fact that you made such a request to me means that you have definitely lost your reason enough to do that reckless thing. In this situation, it’s probably anger. And it’s probably anger towards me.” It’s a very cold self-diagnosis. “Are you really angry? If it’s not about the marketing results… then the problem is the order I mentioned earlier.” A psychopath or sociopath with a good head figured out the answer on his own. “Hmm. The process is the problem. Is Gun upset about the fact that he arbitrarily displayed a ‘unfortunate accident’ itself?”
“……Why are you doing that when you know?”
“I didn’t know. I didn’t even know Gun cared about that kind of thing.”
“It’s a part that ordinary people would naturally care about!”
“I’m sorry, but there are no ordinary people around me.”
“……” Yeon-woo rubbed his head. Right. It would be surprising if there were ‘ordinary’ people around the chairman of Cheongwang. On the other hand, he had a headache. Woo Do-gyeom, who has always thought he was right and lived his whole life. Will that extraordinary person accept this situation and admit his mistake? ‘It looks like he’s going to argue about whether he did wrong or not again.’ If you look at the ‘high-ranking people’ who visited his mother Kang Yeon-hwa’s shrine, you can get a rough idea. Those stubborn people who didn’t want to hear even the slightest bad news. But.
“I was wrong. Right?”
“……?”
“It seems like it’s right since you’re not saying anything.” Yeon-woo paused for a moment with his head in his hands. ‘Did I hear wrong?’ Woo Do-gyeom’s voice was the same as before. His attitude was also the same. In that state, he admitted his mistake without any hesitation. Contrary to Yeon-woo’s expectations. “The young master of the Kwon family scoffed at me. He definitely said that Gun would be angry. Of course, I didn’t believe those words. Where is such a good item? But… it seems like that young master was right this time. Yeon-woo Gun. I was wrong.” Woo Do-gyeom went even further. “He said that if you’ve done wrong, you have to accept the punishment. Will you punish me?”