I was Mistaken as a Monstrous Genius Actor [EN]: Chapter 131

People sometimes reflect on their past actions. They often say similar things, like, ‘Wow—how did I even do that?’ Kang Woo-jin had experienced this feeling many times throughout his life, especially during those days of relentless overtime at the design company.

And now, another instance was added to Woo-jin’s list.

‘Was that Japanese sign language I just used? It was, wasn’t it? He understood me, so it must have been. But how?’

It was indeed Japanese sign language. Until moments ago, his body and expressions had moved almost instinctively. But the young man’s question, who looked about thirteen or fourteen, ‘How do you know Japanese sign language?’ triggered a flood of questions within Kang Woo-jin.

‘…That’s right. I don’t know why I could do it either. Do you know?’

The young man, who had asked in Japanese sign language, wouldn’t know something that even he didn’t. In a very short time, countless thoughts raced through Woo-jin’s mind.

He knew that sign language varied from country to country.

Actually, it was more accurate to say he hadn’t known but had found out. He had researched it after learning sign language through the subspace [a pocket dimension or alternate reality]. He had learned that unfamiliar and complex language instantly, so he needed to know the basic information to use it correctly.

Woo-jin had nodded after reviewing the information.

Come to think of it, it didn’t make sense that sign language, which was based on different spoken languages, would be the same across all countries. That’s how Kang Woo-jin had concluded that what he had learned was Korean sign language. But then, Kang Woo-jin had suddenly used Japanese sign language on the set of ‘Ametalk Show!’

It was even at the same level as his Korean sign language, which experts had praised. Therefore, it was natural for Woo-jin to be flustered.

Then, Kang Woo-jin thought,

‘Wait a minute. First, let’s calm down. Let’s see if I can do it again. Is it a fluke or not?’

It couldn’t be a fluke, but he needed confirmation. Soon, Woo-jin focused his gaze on the young man in the audience, whose eyes were wide with surprise.

-Swish.

He raised his hand. He tried to recall the feeling from just now and attempted Japanese sign language. But the word ‘attempt’ was meaningless. Kang Woo-jin began to use Japanese sign language smoothly. It was as if his body remembered it.

[“Am I doing Japanese sign language correctly right now?”]

As Woo-jin signed softly, the young man’s eyes widened even further. Then, he also raised his hand.

[“Yes. It’s perfect. You’re even better than me; I still make mistakes sometimes. Your sign language skills right now are like my sign language teacher. No, you’re even better!”]

[“Thank you, I don’t really know why I can do Japanese sign language either.”]

[“Huh??”]

[“No. I’m just kidding.”]

His Japanese sign language was fluent. In fact, Kang Woo-jin was smoother than the young man. At this point, Kang Woo-jin realized,

‘If my brain thinks in Japanese, my body, which remembers the sign language, moves on its own. It feels like something is merging.’

That was how the Japanese sign language came out. Meanwhile, the large studio where the two men were exchanging sign language was silent.

“······”

“······”

“······”

PD Shinjo, MC Soyo, Choi Sung-gun, the 200 or so audience members, and the dozens of staff members. Everyone was just looking back and forth between Woo-jin and the young man, speechless. It was partly because of the unexpected shock and partly because they were captivated by a scene they had never witnessed before.

Wasn’t that understandable?

It wasn’t often that they saw sign language in the first place, but now it was during a talk show recording, and it was a rookie Korean actor, not a Japanese person, who was using Japanese sign language at a professional level. Why did that actor know Japanese sign language, and not even Korean sign language?

It was enough to make them lose their minds.

Then,

“······Ah, ah!”

PD Shinjo, who had been blankly watching their exchange, suddenly snapped back to reality. He then asked the sign language interpreter among the two interpreters standing nearby,

“Is the sign language that Woo-jin is using right now Japanese sign language? Not Korean.”

“Yes… it’s Japanese sign language. But didn’t you say he was a Korean actor? Honestly, I was surprised that he was so good at Japanese, but I never imagined he could even do sign language.”

“Me too.”

PD Shinjo, now slightly serious, raised his hand and shouted,

“Let’s stop recording for a moment!!”

He ran to the stage. MC Soyo, who was holding a hand microphone, was still staring blankly at Woo-jin, but PD Shinjo didn’t care and immediately approached Kang Woo-jin and asked, full of excitement,

“Woo-jin! You can also do Japanese sign language?? Not just speak Japanese?”

‘Yes, I guess so,’ Woo-jin thought, but outwardly, he lowered his voice.

“Yes. A little. I can also do Korean sign language.”

“······Even Korean sign language—did you perhaps prepare for a role related to sign language in the past?”

“No, not at all.”

“Wait a minute. So, you can speak Korean, Japanese, and sign language in two languages. That’s a total of four languages.”

To be exact, it included English, but Woo-jin didn’t mention that.

“That’s about right, but it’s not something to brag about.”

PD Shinjo immediately started speaking in Japanese.

“What! You should brag about it! That’s more than enough to brag about! Wow—what is Woo-jin… with that many languages and acting skills. Honestly, isn’t it hard unless you’ve lived two lives? Are you perhaps living your second life??”

“Of course not.”

It was a question he had asked in shock, so PD Shinjo immediately agreed, and as his heightened mood gradually calmed down, he began to assess the situation.

“Woo-jin. Do you perhaps have any intention of hiding your Korean and Japanese sign language skills? I mean, is it okay to show it on the broadcast?”

“It’s okay to show it. There’s no reason to hide it.”

Soon, PD Shinjo’s expression changed to that of a talk show director.

“I understand. I’ll just take it as it is. Anyway, this is great footage, you know? There’s a twist. It can give the viewers a lot of interest. Look at Soyo over there, her eyes are about to pop out.”

At the gesture, Kang Woo-jin turned his head to the right. MC Soyo, still surprised, silently gave a thumbs-up, and PD Shinjo took a step closer to Woo-jin and said again,

“The viewers will probably react similarly. So, I’m going to add some directing.”

“Directing, you say?”

“Yes.”

“What kind?”

“I’ll have to think about that now. Something that can make the scene from just now even more amazing.”

“······”

Kang Woo-jin, who had been looking at PD Shinjo’s face with an indifferent expression, suddenly stood up.

“How about this?”

“Yes?”

“Actually, it was a bit far, so I couldn’t see very well.”

Then, Woo-jin calmly and without hesitation, began to walk towards the audience of about 200 people. As a result, all the audience members flinched or were startled. But Woo-jin didn’t care.

-Swish.

He stood right in front of the young man from the audience with whom he had shared sign language. Soon, Kang Woo-jin signed to the young man.

[“It seems like it would be easier to see if we talked here. Would that be too much of a burden?”]

The young man’s face was full of embarrassment, but he shook his head vigorously, as if he was grateful. After receiving the answer, Woo-jin spoke in a low tone in Japanese to PD Shinjo behind him,

“He says it’s okay.”

PD Shinjo.

“Ah! He’s going off the stage?? As soon as he sees a question from the audience, he suddenly gets up and goes all the way there to answer! Oh! That’s unconventional.”

A smile of approval spread across his face.

Two hours later.

A break was given during the recording of ‘Ametalk Show!’ Kang Woo-jin gave fan service, such as autographs, to the audience members who had participated, and then,

-Click.

He entered the waiting room alone. Choi Sung-gun and Woo-jin’s team seemed to still be at the recording site. What was unusual was that as soon as Kang Woo-jin entered the waiting room, he grabbed the backpack he always carried. What Woo-jin took out of his backpack was a script. The type didn’t matter.

-Thud!

It was not to read it, but to enter the subspace. Soon, Woo-jin’s vision went completely dark. But Kang Woo-jin didn’t move towards the floating white rectangle that he always checked.

He just.

“Ugh, this recording is just as tiring even if I’m comfortable. Anyway, let’s see—”

He stood in place with his arms crossed and organized his thoughts. Or rather, he recalled the words that the robot-like woman had said when he had learned ‘sign language.’

‘[“A new language other than the basic language has been detected. ‘Sign language’ will be learned first.”]’

That’s right, now that he thought about it, it was strange. Even though sign language was not a universal language, the robot voice woman had just said ‘sign language’ without any context.

“But she just said ‘sign language’.”

To be clear, she should have said ‘Korean sign language’ or ‘Japanese sign language.’ It was too broad to just say sign language. There was no way that the subspace, which had ultra-level crazy abilities, would make such a mistake.

In other words,

“There was something I didn’t know.”

In fact, Kang Woo-jin had already come to a conclusion to some extent during the recording. He had just entered the subspace for an experiment. First of all, Korean and Japanese sign language came out smoothly. Both felt the same. He just had to think of the corresponding language in his head and give the order to his body to do it in sign language.

However,

“It’s not the whole world.”

It wasn’t omnipotent. For example, France. Even if he tried to think of French and use sign language, his body didn’t react at all. The reason was simple.

“Because I don’t know French.”

Here, Woo-jin let out a small breath and then,

“Then…”

He thought of English, which he had already learned to a native level, and sent the command to his whole body. He would use American sign language. Slowly raising his two hands. And.

-Swish.

American sign language came out smoothly.

‘It works.’

At that moment, a smile spread across Kang Woo-jin’s lips.

“Okay, I get it.”

He had figured out why he was able to use Japanese and American sign language, in addition to Korean sign language.

“So, sign language is like a passive skill; you can have it in any country if you meet the condition.”

The condition was very simple.

‘The language of that country.’

It was the spoken language of each country. Korean, Japanese, and English. These were the languages that Kang Woo-jin was currently proficient in, and sign language also came out smoothly in these three languages. But it was impossible in countries where he had not learned the language.

In other words,

“The more languages I learn, the more sign language follows as a bonus? Wow—damn, the subspace’s abilities are insane.”

Kang Woo-jin had now learned a total of six languages, including sign language, not just three. Woo-jin thought that this was why the robot voice woman had expressed it as ‘sign language’ in a unified way.

“From now on, if I learn one language, it’ll be 1+1 for sure?”

The subspace’s abilities were truly extraordinary. How could a person master six languages in one lifetime? It was usually difficult to learn even one language other than their native language.

At this point,

“Okay, let’s exit.”

Kang Woo-jin coolly uttered ‘exit.’ His vision immediately changed from the subspace to the waiting room, and Woo-jin, who was sitting on the waiting chair nearby, smiled slightly.

“Six languages—”

He was looking forward to the future. Well, he wouldn’t use sign language often, but it would surely be helpful someday. Luck could be grasped more clearly when one had the skills.

‘It will definitely be useful, just like Korean sign language. Whether it’s Japanese or American sign language.’

Woo-jin was certain. Sign language was unique because it was unfamiliar, and thanks to its rarity, the day would come when he would seize an opportunity that was lurking somewhere.

At that moment,

-Click!

The closed waiting room door opened. Soon, Kang Woo-jin erased his smile and put on an indifferent expression. What appeared was Choi Sung-gun with his ponytail. He and Woo-jin exchanged a silent glance for a moment.

“······”

“······”

It was Choi Sung-gun who broke the silence with a chuckle.

“What are you looking at, you punk? Did you think I’d be shocked by your Japanese sign language? It’s not like we’ve only been together for a day or two. I’ve just decided to accept everything now.”

“…Is that so?”

“Yeah. If I’m surprised by everything, my heart will stop first. Of course, I don’t understand it. I’m like, ‘What is this?’ But let me ask you one thing.”

“Yes.”

“You’re human, right?”

“…CEO.”

“No, no, answer me honestly. You are, right?”

“Of course, I am.”

Choi Sung-gun scratched his head as if he himself was stupid for asking.

“Then that’s good. If I force myself to swallow something I can’t digest, I’ll just get sick, and there must be a reason for your past that makes you who you are now. That’s how I’ll settle it. Come on, you punk. I’ll accept anything.”

At the joke, Woo-jin also made a solemn joke.

“Yes. Then, without any burden.”

“Aaaah—you still have to give me some time! Even in Tetris, there’s a time for the blocks to come down, you know? No consecutive hits. Ah, I’ve also told the team members, including Ye-jeong and Su-hwan, to just take it as it is.”

“Ah—thank you.”

“Okay, let’s go. They said the second recording is starting soon.”

As Woo-jin nodded and came out into the hallway, Choi Sung-gun recalled the recording from earlier and said,

“Well, most of the audience members who came today were like that. That kid, you know, the young one you shared sign language with.”

“Yes.”

“He seems to be quite a fan of yours. It’s been a while since I’ve seen someone so happy after getting an autograph. That expression is precious.”

That was certainly true. The young man had even teared up a little. But when he thought about it, Woo-jin understood it well. Because he was similar to himself, struggling alone in a concept and misunderstanding.

“What are the chances of talking to an actor I like or am interested in through sign language?”

“…True. And it’s not a Japanese actor, but a Korean actor. No, apart from the actor, there wouldn’t have been many opportunities to communicate through sign language itself in his life. He’s also young.”

“Unintentional isolation is more difficult than you think.”

‘Really.’ Choi Sung-gun, who had been slowly nodding, put his arm around Woo-jin’s shoulder with a blank expression.

“Yeah, today must have been a day that the kid will remember for the rest of his life.”

The next day, the 30th. Morning. ‘Toega’ Film Company.

‘Toega’ Film Company, which was in charge of producing ‘The Bizarre Sacrifice of a Stranger.’ Kang Woo-jin was sitting at a U-shaped desk in the film company’s large conference room. Of course, Choi Sung-gun was there too.

Opposite the two of them,

“I’m sorry for changing the schedule suddenly; something urgent came up.”

Director Kyotaro, with his gray hair, was seated. Along with the film company staff. About six or seven people. It was the last of Woo-jin’s Japanese schedule to meet with Director Kyotaro. There were many things to discuss today: the pre-production schedule, the coordination of the filming period, promotion, and so on.

But for some reason, Director Kyotaro’s expression was a bit dark. At least, that’s how Kang Woo-jin perceived it.

‘Did something bad happen? He has a bit of a dark vibe.’

Director Kyotaro forced a smile and spoke in Japanese.

“I heard about ‘Nam-sa-chin’ [a Korean term for ‘boyfriend material’] and your YouTube news. Congratulations. It seems like you’re finally gaining recognition after being unknown for a very long time, and I’m happy about that too.”

It was a common misconception, so Woo-jin answered without much thought.

“Thank you, Director. But is there perhaps something wrong?”

At the question, Director Kyotaro sighed softly and spoke again.

“…The original plan was to do the script reading by October at the latest, but there’s been a bit of a setback.”

“A setback?”

“Well, the reading might be delayed until early next year. About half a year.”

Early next year? Suddenly? It was much later than he had expected. Even the script reading, not the filming. Was there a reason? As Woo-jin stared at Director Kyotaro, Director Kyotaro, who was scratching his gray hair, murmured softly,

“There’s a movement to withdraw about half of the total investment. We should consider 30% of it already withdrawn.”

Investment money was being withdrawn? ‘The Bizarre Sacrifice of a Stranger’ was a big movie, so the investment money would be quite substantial. Then, was this movie going to be canceled? He didn’t know the details yet, but it wasn’t too difficult for Woo-jin to come to a conclusion in this situation.

Kang Woo-jin spoke the answer in a low voice,

“Is the reason perhaps related to me?”

The smile disappeared from Director Kyotaro’s face.

“No. It’s just because of those rotten, stupid bastards who are afraid of change.”

Meanwhile, in a magnificent house in Tokyo.

It was a huge house that would make anyone gasp at first sight. The vast yard was a given, and the size of the house itself was considerable. It would be spacious enough for 100 people to live in.

The interior of such a house was even more impressive.

The ceilings were incredibly high, and the furniture was all extremely expensive. In addition, there were more than five employees working in the house. Among them, a male employee who was cleaning the house knocked on a closed door.

-Knock knock.

Then, a raspy Japanese voice was heard from inside. An old man’s voice.

“Come in.”

After hearing the answer, the male employee opened the door. It was a study. The wide space was filled with books. In the center of it, an old man was sitting. A man with white hair mixed in his eyebrows, who looked like a white-haired lion.

Then, the male employee bowed to him.

“How should I clean the study, Chairman?”

The old man, who was called Chairman, closed the book he was reading and shook his head.

“It’s okay here, do the other places first.”

“Understood.”

At that time,

-Tap tap!

Someone ran in behind the male employee. It was a young boy who looked to be about 14 years old. The boy immediately approached the old man in the study who was called Chairman.

-Swish.

He suddenly raised both hands. It was Japanese sign language.

[“Grandpa, something amazing happened yesterday!”]

The Chairman was quite flustered but also moved by the boy’s appearance.

‘He smiled? The guy who always had no emotion and a dead expression?’

What on earth was going on? The Chairman tried to hide his surprise and quickly put on a bright smile. It was a smile full of extreme emotion. Then, the Chairman stroked the boy’s head and also raised both hands. It was sign language.

[“Okay. Tell me, what happened?”]

[“I told you I won a ticket to be in the audience of a talk show, right? I went there, and the actor was incredibly good at Japanese sign language!”]

[“That actor is a Korean actor, right? But he knows Japanese sign language? His name is probably—sorry, what was his name again?”]

The boy was the young man who had talked to Kang Woo-jin in Japanese sign language among the audience members of ‘Ametalk Show!’

[“Kang Woo-jin! It was amazing that such a brilliant actor knew sign language, and I was so, so happy to have a conversation with him in sign language!”]

He was the only grandson of the old man called Chairman. Soon, the Chairman stared at his grandson’s smiling face, which he hadn’t seen in almost 10 years, and also,

‘He does sign language? Yes, I see. That Korean actor seems to have the same circumstances as me. There’s no other reason to learn sign language.’

For some reason, he started his own delusion.

End