I was Mistaken as a Monstrous Genius Actor [EN]: Chapter 116

Kang Woo-jin’s YouTube channel was already set up. They had a team, a producer, a first song chosen, and the lyrics were revised.

The first song selected was ‘Ballerina’ by the top-tier girl group ‘Elani’.

It was a popular song that had swept the charts in Korea and Japan and even entered the Billboard 200. It was a jazz-style dance song with powerful choreography and well-placed rap, and Kang Woo-jin was already familiar with the lyrics, which had been modified into a foreign language.

Because he had been looking at them frequently recently.

The lyrics would have been easier if the subspace had worked, but unfortunately, that didn’t happen. Anyway, all that was left now was recording, filming, editing, and uploading.

Among them, the recording and filming were scheduled to take place at once today.

Anyway, Choi Sung-gun, leading the way with Kang Woo-jin, smiled and introduced the man wearing a hat in front of the work equipment.

“Woo-jin, this is producer Kim Eun-joong, who is in charge of the arrangement. He’s a well-known figure in this industry, so it was really hard to get him on board.”

The producer waved his hand dismissively, as if to say it was an overstatement.

“What are you talking about? It’s done. We already signed the contract.”

“It’s an honor to have you work with us despite your busy schedule, haha.”

He was said to be famous, but the producer was unfamiliar to Kang Woo-jin. He just seemed like a laid-back loafer. Well, he did have an expert aura.

Around this time.

“First, sit down. Let’s listen to the song first and then talk.”

The producer sat in the center of the work equipment, and Kang Woo-jin and the other dozen or so people took their places on the sofa or folding chairs in the back.

Soon.

-Swish.

The song blared throughout the studio.

-♬♪

Thanks to that, everyone, including Kang Woo-jin and Choi Sung-gun, perked up their ears. The arranged ‘Ballerina’ was different from the start. The original song started with a warning-like sound effect followed by intense drums, but what was heard now was the piano instead of the drums.

However, it wasn’t calm.

Maybe it was because the rhythm was fast, but it was definitely not a boring intro. The beat was somewhere between the original song and a ballad. Woo-jin listened to the song indifferently, but inwardly gave a thumbs up.

‘It’s good? It’s really good. I don’t know what’s good about it, but it’s just good.’

The original ‘Ballerina’ was, of course, familiar to Kang Woo-jin. It had been saved on Woo-jin’s phone when the song had become a hit in the past. The producer’s guide vocals were mixed into the song that was playing now.

-♬♪

Even though it was just ‘hm’ or ‘ah,’ it was even better to listen to because the voice was added.

‘What do you call this, acoustic? Is that it?’

The sound of a guitar was added to the piano. The arranged ‘Ballerina’ felt like it was focusing on the vocals as the beat got faster towards the climax.

Like that.

“That’s it for here.”

The playback of the arranged ‘Ballerina’ stopped. At the same time, the producer, who was sitting on the chair, turned his body.

-Swish.

He asked Choi Sung-gun and Kang Woo-jin, who were sitting on the sofa.

“How is it?”

Choi Sung-gun was quick to answer.

“It’s amazing? It feels familiar with the tempo of the original song, but it’s also new? It’s much better than the sample you sent in the middle.”

“That’s probably because the instruments weren’t included.”

“Ah, ah. Woo-jin, what do you think?”

The question was passed to Kang Woo-jin. Woo-jin was expressionless, but in his heart, he wanted to give a double thumbs up. ‘He’s definitely a famous person.’ But Woo-jin, who was forcibly suppressing his excitement, gave a controlled compliment.

“It keeps going around in my head, especially the intro and the climax.”

A faint smile spread across the producer’s blunt face. Behind him, Kang Woo-jin’s YouTube team, Han Ye-jeong, and Jang Su-hwan were making a fuss.

“Oh, oh, changing ‘Ballerina’ like this makes it a completely different song?”

“It sticks to your ears!”

“It’s like, it’s better to listen to with a male vocal.”

The producer’s lips, which had been slightly smiling, curved up more. After a small cough, he said.

“Well, let’s do a light first recording. Woo-jin, you don’t have to be perfect. It’s going to be a job that takes more than half a day anyway, so take it easy.”

Woo-jin, whose heart was gradually beating faster, replied in a low voice.

“Yes, I understand.”

For reference, Kang Woo-jin’s schedule for today was all related to his YouTube channel. Recording, filming, and other meetings. Choi Sung-gun had adjusted the schedule for today.

Then.

“Let’s set up the cameras first!”

The YouTubers’ channel team moved first. They installed cameras around the microphone in the recording booth. Front, back, left, and right. The more pictures, the better.

The installation took about 30 minutes.

“It’s all done!”

As soon as the team left the booth, the producer in front of the equipment asked Woo-jin, who was getting his makeup touched up by Han Ye-jeong.

“I heard there are two versions? English and Japanese.”

“Yes.”

“Which one do you want to do first?”

Choi Sung-gun, who was on the sofa in the back, was quick to answer.

“We can start with Japanese, and if there’s time, we can do English too.”

“Okay, you can go in when you’re ready, Woo-jin.”

After a while, Kang Woo-jin, who was ready, entered the booth. It was a space he had already experienced, but he was a little nervous because of the cameras.

‘Hoo, take a deep breath. Just think of it like coming to a karaoke room like before.’

But he had to show composure. He had to exude ease.

Kang Woo-jin strode to the round microphone surrounded by cameras. The scenery had changed. The producer and a dozen or so people could be seen through the glass window of the booth. Among them, the producer tapped his ear with his finger. He was telling him to put on headphones.

-Swish.

As soon as he put on the headphones hanging nearby, the producer’s voice was heard by Woo-jin.

“It’s going to be a long journey today, so don’t use up all your energy from the beginning. Let’s start by matching the timing of the intro slowly.”

Kang Woo-jin nodded slowly, and the arranged ‘Ballerina’ began to play in his headphones.

“······”

Concentrating on the song, Woo-jin, holding his phone in one hand, looked at the Japanese lyrics and made a sound.

-♬♪

When Kang Woo-jin’s vocals were added, the texture of the arranged ‘Ballerina’ changed drastically. Even though it was his first time, Woo-jin didn’t make any mistakes in the first intro.

At this, the producer outside the booth paused. And listened.

‘······His low notes are low, heavy, and soft. The slightly scratching tone is unique. But his Japanese pronunciation is amazing?’

After listening to Kang Woo-jin’s high notes for a minute.

-Swish.

He turned his body back while sitting on the chair. He made eye contact with Choi Sung-gun.

“What is he?”

The producer’s eyes were filled with shock.

“His vocals are crazy? Among the ones I’ve worked on, he’s one of the best?”

Around noon on the 3rd, inside an airplane.

The plane was about halfway through its arrival in Japan. Familiar faces could be seen. It was the production team of ‘Ametalk Show!’. They were returning to Japan after a few days of schedule in Korea. The writers were tired and had their eyes closed, and only the director, Shinjo PD, was looking out at the outside, which was preparing for takeoff.

“······”

The emaciated Shinjo PD had a lot on his mind. Of course, it was because of Kang Woo-jin, whom he had met in Korea. But the person he was thinking about now was Choi Sung-gun.

More precisely, his conversation with him.

It started with Choi Sung-gun.

‘I’m sorry, but we’re a bit negative about going in as a group. Unless it’s solo.’

‘Can you tell me why?’

‘There are a few reasons, but first of all, it’s a burden because Woo-jin is taking on everything. Also, Woo-jin doesn’t have any close relationships with the other actors who played the villains of Hanryang. Their filming schedules are different, so they’ve only seen each other a few times.’

‘Ah-‘

‘The other actors are probably the same. It doesn’t seem like a fun picture will come out when four unfamiliar people get together. And the image of being a group isn’t good for us. It’s a time when Woo-jin is very sensitive, so we have to be careful about even small images.’

‘I understand.’

‘So, it’s going to be a bit difficult to appear as a group.’

Here, Shinjo PD returned to reality inside the plane. Choi Sung-gun had spoken nicely, but to put it bluntly, it meant that it was a rejection unless it was solo, and honestly, he had never thought of Kang Woo-jin solo for the project he was working on, so he stroked his chin.

“Solo- solo, huh.”

If Kang Woo-jin went solo, the ‘K-Drama Week’ project would have to be two episodes instead of one. One episode for Kang Woo-jin and one episode for the other villain actors. There was also a way to put them all in one episode, but the result would be about 30 minutes of broadcasting. Dividing it into 15 minutes each was meaningless.

‘Or take out Kang Woo-jin.’

That wasn’t good either. It was originally a special feature on the ‘Profiler Hanryang’ villains, but if the main character, Kang Woo-jin, was missing, it would be better not to do it. Shinjo PD’s worries were getting deeper. In fact, he had met all three of the other villain actors, including Kang Woo-jin, during this trip to Korea.

The results were all okay.

It wasn’t just okay, it was like they were rushing in. Only Kang Woo-jin’s side was against it. An ambiguous reaction that was neither hot nor cold. So, what? What was Shinjo PD going to do? Was he going to divide one episode into two? Or was he going to scrap the project itself?

At this time, the stopped plane began to move.

“PD-nim.”

A female writer named Yuki asked Shinjo PD cautiously.

“Have you made a decision? We have to report to the director as soon as we get back.”

At this, Shinjo PD looked out the window with his chin in his hand for a while and then replied quietly.

“Let’s scrap the project.”

The female writer’s eyes widened.

“Huh??”

On the other hand, Shinjo PD was calm.

“Let’s just go with Kang Woo-jin.”

Meanwhile, at the same time. Kang Woo-jin’s van.

Kang Woo-jin was currently on the highway. Today’s schedule was unusually tight. He had finished filming for ‘Male Friend’ early in the morning, and now, around noon, he was heading to Buyeo in Chungcheongnam-do.

The journey would take about 2 hours.

While the van was speeding up, Woo-jin was silently sitting and looking at the script. A familiar title could be seen on the cover.

-‘Island of the Missing’

It was director Kwon Ki-taek’s ‘Island of the Missing’. Of course. The place he was heading to now was the large set of ‘Island of the Missing’. Filming for ‘Island of the Missing’ was scheduled to take place at the Buyeo set, except for other outdoor filming and overseas location filming.

Of course, Woo-jin had never seen the large set yet. That’s why he was constantly excited while looking at the ‘Island of the Missing’ script.

‘Is it more like a set complex than a set? Or a set village? I heard it’s like that. That means it’s huge, right? Is it bigger than the drug dealer set?’

He had heard that the set complex was surrounded by lush forests and mountains, and the sea was spread out in front and behind it. Woo-jin imagined the background in the ‘Island of the Missing’ script and the picture he had experienced (reading).

He roughly deduced it from that.

‘A place that looks ordinary but is strangely chilly.’

Along with impatience, anticipation, worry, tension, and a little fear came rushing in. It was always like that. The emotions that always appeared whenever he was put into a new project.

However, Kang Woo-jin was a little different than before.

‘I’m curious, what does it look like?’

He used to be so nervous that his fingertips would tremble even during ‘The Fixer’, but now he was more inclined to enjoy it than to be intimidated. It was partly because he had gotten used to it, but it was more accurate to say that he had grown more.

Without realizing it, his attitude as an actor was forming.

The changes in Woo-jin’s surrounding team were noticeable. Originally, there were a total of 3 people, but now there were 2 more, including stylist Han Ye-jeong. In other words, Kang Woo-jin’s team had grown to a total of 5 people. Among them, Han Ye-jeong, who had changed to a blue bob, was suddenly.

“······Huh?”

She narrowed her brows while looking at her phone. Her expression looked like she had seen something uncomfortable. Then, she got up and moved closer to the passenger seat. Choi Sung-gun, with his ponytail, was resting with his eyes closed for a while.

“Representative, I think you should see this article.”

Choi Sung-gun woke up groggily at the sound of her voice.

“······What is it?”

“No, I was searching for articles about Woo-jin oppa, and I saw this. Look, this article is already 5th in the portal site article rankings? Why is this kind of nonsense 5th?”

Kang Woo-jin, who had raised his gaze from the script because his name was called, and Choi Sung-gun, who yawned slightly, received Han Ye-jeong’s phone.

The article title was immediately visible.

『[Star Issue] Is Acting Monster ‘Kang Woo-jin’ a Split Personality? Eyewitness Accounts Spreading on Communities』

It was an article with very provocative wording. However, Choi Sung-gun, who would have jumped up and down if it were normal, was calm. He didn’t react much and just checked the contents of the article. Even the comments at the end.

-Hullllllll is it true??? It’s probably nonsense, right?

-A reporter is being a reporter, why are you guys paying attention?? Just ignore it

-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋIt looks like he’s starting to have some issuesㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-Split personality is too much, isn’t it just that his real personality is really rude?

-Don’t feed the trolls

-But… if it’s from Kang Woo-jin’s classmates or people around him, it seems like it’s reliable…

-Isn’t he really the same as Park Dae-ri’s personality?ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-Why does this reporter always write articles while wandering around communities???? Go out and do some reporting, you reporter bastard

·

·

·

The article had been posted a few tens of minutes ago, but there were a lot of comments. It was definitely thanks to Kang Woo-jin’s soaring popularity, but it wasn’t a situation to laugh about. Han Ye-jeong was the one who voiced it.

“Representative, if we leave this alone, it’s going to get distorted and spread. Shouldn’t we do something to stop it?”

It was a valid point. But Choi Sung-gun just hummed and scratched his chin. Soon, he turned his body back and made eye contact with Kang Woo-jin. A strange gaze was exchanged.

And then.

“It’s okay, if the article is 5th in the rankings, it’ll come out again even if we block it. Look here, there’s another similar article at the end.”

Choi Sung-gun handed the phone back to Han Ye-jeong and took out his own.

“It’s better to just cover it up. Or distract them with something else. It was a bit early, but it doesn’t matter.”

Leaving Han Ye-jeong, who was blinking her eyes, behind, Choi Sung-gun sent a message somewhere.

Two hours later.

Kang Woo-jin’s van arrived at its destination. There were already numerous vans and minibuses in the outdoor parking lot. Of course, there were also the actors’ vans.

Soon, Kang Woo-jin got out of the van.

-Swish.

He took in the surrounding scenery.

‘It’s amazing, it’s a picture, a picture.’

The scenery was so beautiful that his mouth dropped open. The place where Kang Woo-jin was standing was surrounded by mountains and lush forests, and the sea surrounded the forest once again. In front of the outdoor parking lot, there were numerous houses, and tall trees were planted between the houses.

If you looked at it from a distance, you might mistake it for a real island.

The set was that elaborate and realistic. It was also huge. Although he was still a rookie, it was the first time Kang Woo-jin had seen a set of this scale.

‘This is like creating a whole village.’

Kang Woo-jin was purely feeling the greatness. It was at that moment.

“Woo-jin, you’re here.”

A soft voice penetrated from the side. When he turned around, a man with a warm impression was walking towards him. It was director Kwon Ki-taek. He must have found Woo-jin among the dozens of staff members. Soon, Woo-jin bowed his head, putting on a strong act.

“Hello, director.”

What was interesting was.

“Yes, you came quickly.”

Next to him was a woman who was beautiful at first glance. Director Kwon Ki-taek introduced her instead.

“Ah, this is Ha Yu-ra. Is this your first time seeing Woo-jin?”

The woman was Ha Yu-ra, a top actress who had joined after Seo Chae-eun was pushed out, and as soon as she saw the cynical Kang Woo-jin, she muttered inwardly.

‘Is he that- Kang Woo-jin. He doesn’t really have a wild smell?’

Meanwhile, in Japan.

Japan had been noisy for the past few days due to the ‘Strange Sacrifice of a Stranger’ case. No, it was still ongoing. The production company was constantly increasing its publicity. In Japan, a sudden article was fired.

『Korean Actor Cast as Lead in Taki Kawa Akari’s Original Work 「Strange Sacrifice of a Stranger」Directed by Tanoguchi Kyotaro, Who is the Korean Actor?』

It was clear that it would soon spread to Korea in terms of content.

End