I was Mistaken as a Monstrous Genius Actor [EN]: Chapter 132

A smile spread across the Chairman’s face as he stroked his grandson’s head, who had regained his lost smile. Even so.

‘That Korean rookie actor, his name was… Kang Woo-jin, wasn’t it?’

He was building up his misunderstanding and delusion all by himself.

‘Someone in his family or someone important to him must be in a similar situation as my grandson. It’s certain; sign language is too difficult to learn just as a hobby or out of interest.’

It was a situation that was quite plausible. For the Chairman, it was almost an unavoidable conclusion.

‘Other languages might not be easy either, but they come with rewards. But sign language isn’t like that. Compared to other languages, its usage is limited, and only a small portion of people use it.’

In other words, sign language isn’t something people learn for their career or resume. At this point, the Chairman looked into his grandson’s eyes and began to recall the past, those incredibly difficult days.

The sign language he learned solely for this child.

‘I know it well, I know it too well. They say it’s for a loved one, but it must have been hell.’

Though he was an actor from another country whose face and voice he didn’t know, the Chairman felt a great sense of kinship with the actor Kang Woo-jin. He didn’t know for sure, but becoming an actor while learning such sign language was quite impressive.

Then he paused.

‘Wait a minute. But Japanese sign language? Why Japanese sign language and not Korean sign language? Ah—right, maybe someone important to him is connected to Japan.’

His delusion was now bordering on error. At that moment, his grandson, who had been smiling brightly, added more in sign language to the Chairman.

[“Kang Woo-jin is so good at Japanese sign language, he must be really good at Japanese too! He was talking so comfortably with the PD [Production Director] and the staff.”]

[“Is that so?”]

Even Japanese? The Chairman felt a bit more certain. Along with genuine admiration.

‘Japanese sign language and even Japanese? He’s not an ordinary actor. Indeed, there’s a reason for all the buzz.’

The Chairman, who had been muttering to himself for a while, changed the subject of his thoughts. He focused on the happy smile of his grandson in front of him.

‘Anyway, I’m grateful; he gave back the smile this child had lost.’

It was the first time he had seen his grandson smile in almost 10 years. On the desk behind his grandson, there were several documents stacked up. The company logo on the cover of the documents.

-Kashihi.

‘Kashihi Group’. A large corporation ranked within the top 10 in Japan’s business world. ‘Kashihi Group’ had numerous businesses and affiliates in various sectors such as chemicals, textiles, construction, housing, food, electronics, and pharmaceuticals. It also had deep ties with many companies, including Korean conglomerates. The Chairman was the top leader and owner of the ‘Kashihi Group’. His name was Chairman Yoshimura Hideki.

An outright chaebol [a large family-owned business conglomerate] family.

But even a chaebol chairman was a human being. There was no way to avoid a sudden accident. About 10 years ago, there was tragic news.

『Kashihi Group Vice President’s Tragic Accident, His Wife and Son Were in the Car』

Hideki Chairman’s first son. That is, there was a car accident involving his eldest son and his wife. The couple and their four-year-old son were in the car. Unfortunately, the parents died instantly. Only the young son miraculously survived.

It was because his mother had shielded him.

Due to the accident, the four-year-old grandson lost his hearing and speech. Of course, Hideki Chairman had three sons and many other family members. However, his eldest son and daughter-in-law, who were highly anticipated, had passed away, and the young grandson, whom the couple had conceived with difficulty, became disabled at the age of four.

For Hideki Chairman, the death of his eldest son and his wife was like having his insides torn apart, but he was immensely grateful that his grandson had survived.

At this point, his grandson, Yoshimura Shingo, was as precious as life itself to the Chairman. He couldn’t help but cherish him.

‘I have to save Shingo no matter what.’

Hideki Chairman began to raise his four-year-old grandson, Yoshimura Shingo, by his side. Despite being the head of a large corporation, he had to learn sign language and study about the deaf.

However, as his grandson Shingo grew, he lost his vitality.

The envy and jealousy from those around him for being the grandson of a large corporation also played a part, but more than anything, Shingo’s disability was the biggest reason. At school and in the world, Shingo was alone. He was isolated. As a result, Shingo’s expressions disappeared around the age of eight, and from the age of ten, he cut himself off from the world. Later, he developed severe depression, which worsened his condition.

That continued until recently, when he turned 14.

Shingo hadn’t smiled for about 10 years and always had a stiff, robotic face. He cut off all human interaction except for his sign language teacher. Of course, Hideki Chairman had tried everything for his grandson. He poured money into psychiatric treatment and various other therapies, and he mastered sign language, taking care of Shingo whenever he had time.

But it was all meaningless.

No matter how many hundreds of millions he spent, he couldn’t bring back Shingo’s smile and vitality. Shingo became more and more withdrawn into his room, and his spirit was dying. He only spent time watching games and various videos. Around this time, Shingo started watching ‘Profiler Han Ryang’ on Netflix.

Shingo had always enjoyed watching Korean dramas.

He watched so much content, and he was tired of the formulaic acting and directing in Japan. He also had a desire to escape Japan. Whatever the reason, Shingo was hooked on ‘Park Dae-ri’. The reason was simple.

‘Car accident.’

‘Park Dae-ri’s’ past narrative was similar to his own. Although the details were very different, ‘Park Dae-ri’ had also lost his parents in a car accident, and Shingo was the same. Naturally, Shingo became interested in Kang Woo-jin, who played Park Dae-ri.

The Korean actor Kang Woo-jin was amazing.

Despite being a rookie, he was causing a sensation in both Korea and Japan. Moreover, when he looked at his YouTube channel, he was uploading cover song videos in fluent Japanese, even though he was Korean. That’s how Shingo ended up going to the recording of ‘Ametalk Show!’

And he came back with a smile on his face.

No matter how much money he spent, no matter what method he used, Shingo’s spirit, which had been dying, was suddenly exploding with life. So, Hideki Chairman’s near-hysterical emotion was natural.

It felt like his grandson, who was as precious as life itself, had come back to life.

That gave Hideki Chairman hope, and he felt endless gratitude towards the Korean actor Kang Woo-jin, whose face he didn’t even know.

At that moment.

[“Grandpa!”]

His grandson Shingo added excited sign language to Hideki Chairman.

[“Will I be able to talk to Kang Woo-jin again someday?”]

[“If the opportunity arises. Of course, you have to create that opportunity. It’ll be hard if you stay cooped up in your room.”]

[“Yeah! Soon, a drama called ‘Boyfriend’ is coming to Japan! I really want to see it. Oh, and Kang Woo-jin is also filming a movie with a great director from our country!”]

[“A Japanese movie?”]

[“Can I go see it? Let’s watch it together when it’s released, Grandpa!”]

[“Yes, let’s do that. When is it being released?”]

[“I saw an article saying they’re starting filming soon! I’m so excited. Grandpa! Can I become an actor like Kang Woo-jin? I can’t speak, but I want to become a sign language actor.”]

Hideki Chairman was momentarily choked up. But he forced himself to hold back. He had to give his beloved grandson hope, not tears.

[“If you think you can do it, you can. That spirit is important, and I’ll help you from the side.”]

[“Yeah! Grandpa.”]

His grandson, who had been dying and turning his back on the world, now had a dream and a goal. What a beautiful sight. The study, where they were communicating in sign language, was very quiet, but courage was rising in Shingo’s clear eyes.

[“Ah! It’s time for my sign language teacher to come! Grandpa, I’m going to study sign language really hard!”]

Shingo, full of smiles, ran out of the study. Watching his retreating figure, Hideki Chairman even felt a sense of elation. A greater sense of upliftment than when a large-scale business project succeeded.

“…Kang Woo-jin, was it? I’m so grateful I could cry.”

It was genuine. He didn’t know exactly what the situation was, but Kang Woo-jin had done in one day what Hideki Chairman couldn’t do even after spending 10 years. It might not have been intentional, but for Hideki Chairman, it was like a mountain of problems had been removed.

“Maybe he felt sorry for Shingo, and it reminded him of his past when he learned Japanese sign language.”

Then, Hideki Chairman, wearing a suit jacket, which was placed on the study desk, chuckled. Then he uttered meaningful words.

“That kind of actor should become a great success.”

At this time, back at ‘Toega’ film company.

The atmosphere in the conference room sank at Director Kyotaro’s answer, ‘Because of the rotten, stupid guys who are afraid of change.’ Noticing this, Choi Sung-gun whispered to Kang Woo-jin, who was sitting next to him.

“What’s wrong? What happened?”

Woo-jin casually explained about the investment issue in an indifferent tone. Then Choi Sung-gun’s eyes widened slightly.

“The script reading is postponed until early next year?”

“Yes.”

Choi Sung-gun immediately started thinking. With his extensive experience, he quickly understood the situation.

‘I had a feeling—but I never thought something like this would actually happen. There could be enough people who are jealous of Woo-jin’s success in Japan.’

In fact, the number of malicious comments directed at Kang Woo-jin had increased quite a bit. Both in Korea and Japan. Woo-jin himself didn’t pay any attention to it, but Choi Sung-gun, who was in charge of his care, was well aware of it. In other words, the investors of ‘The Bizarre Sacrifice of a Stranger’ were likely being influenced by those forces.

Because the investment money wasn’t a small amount.

‘Or maybe the investors themselves were reluctant to have a Korean actor at the center of the project. Anyway, this is quite a headache.’

In Choi Sung-gun’s calculations, postponing it to early next year was the same as disrupting the entire production schedule of ‘The Bizarre Sacrifice of a Stranger’. If that happened, he didn’t know how far the casting of actors had progressed, but the main actors might withdraw.

The same went for the various staff teams that had already been formed.

Then, all sorts of nonsense and rumors would naturally spread throughout the industry, and if the media and public opinion got wind of this, it would have a significant negative impact on the project. ‘The Bizarre Sacrifice of a Stranger’ was so famous that the impact would be more than doubled.

‘More than anything, the project’s momentum was already good, but we maximized its promotional power with Woo-jin, and now it’s all for nothing.’

This was the case not only in Japan but also in Korea. Soon, Choi Sung-gun quickly asked Director Kyotaro across from him. Of course, in Korean.

“Investment issues—even so, with the reputation of the director and Akari-writer, isn’t it strange that the investment money is being withdrawn so easily?”

Director Kyotaro, after hearing Kang Woo-jin’s translation, smiled bitterly.

“Of course, our reputation is not small at all. However, the writer is just the original author. And our project has had a lot of noise since the beginning of its announcement. The original fans are very strong and spread across various parts of the world. Of course, the opposition was more extreme in the beginning.”

“…”

“But we still went ahead. The investors expressed their concerns, but we proceeded because I pushed for it. But things started to go wrong again when Woo-jin joined. I’m sure, but they weren’t.”

“So they decided it wouldn’t work and withdrew?”

“Investors are reluctant to take risks. Especially in Japan, that tendency is even stronger. Now, Japan is in an uproar because of Woo-jin, and the interest is so high that it’s almost extreme.”

Director Kyotaro crossed his arms.

“But what if this project doesn’t do well? They’re afraid that everyone, including the original fans, will turn their backs on them and criticize them for including a Korean actor. The investors are cowards.”

Around this time, Kang Woo-jin.

-Swish.

He picked up the ‘The Bizarre Sacrifice of a Stranger’ script that was placed right in front of him. It was for the meeting, but Kang Woo-jin used it as a subspace passage.

-Thud!

Kang Woo-jin, who had secretly entered the subspace, quickly moved in front of the white squares. There were a total of seven white squares floating. Among them, Woo-jin checked the first change.

“Aish—damn it, is it going to be like this?”

-[7/Scenario (Title: The Bizarre Sacrifice of a Stranger), Grade C]

The grade of ‘The Bizarre Sacrifice of a Stranger’, which was A+, had dropped to C. A+ was the highest grade, but C was average. Kang Woo-jin let out a genuine sigh.

“Ha—average is a bit disappointing. If I find an investor or whatever, can it go up again?”

But there was still a lot of time until early next year. He didn’t know what would happen. There was no way Kang Woo-jin could predict it.

And although it was still faint.

“As expected, the entertainment industry is full of ups and downs.”

It also meant that the shadow of a backer was beginning to form.

Afterwards.

Kang Woo-jin, who had finished the meeting with Director Kyotaro, took a flight back to Korea on the afternoon of the 30th.

For reference, Hwa-rin, who had finished filming as a guest on Woo-jin’s ‘Ametalk Show!’, had entered Korea a day earlier than Kang Woo-jin. Whatever the case, when Kang Woo-jin returned to Korea, the airport was quiet. The reason was simple. He had entered the country secretly. Thanks to that, Woo-jin, who got into a van relatively quietly.

‘Hoo—’

He took a breath of the Korean air that he hadn’t felt in a while. At that moment, Choi Sung-gun, who was sitting in the passenger seat, offered encouragement.

“‘The Bizarre Sacrifice of a Stranger’ will do well. The director’s reputation is so high that it won’t be canceled or anything.”

“Yes, CEO. It’s okay.”

“Yeah. Well, unfortunately, there’s nothing much we can do. We’ve already done enough hooking and attention-grabbing. Honestly, you don’t have time to be tied to that project right now.”

“I know.”

“We have no choice but to wait and see. Anyway, Woo-jin, I wanted to give you a few days off after your hard work in Japan, but unfortunately, it’s hard to make a gap in your schedule. As soon as you get home today, don’t do anything and just sleep.”

Then, Choi Sung-gun closed his diary and recited the scheduled events.

“It’s full with the ‘Drug Dealer’ blind preview and the ‘Island of Disappearance’ teaser poster shoot.”

Early the next morning, the 31st. Tokyo, Japan.

It was the last Monday of August. Soon, August would end today, and it would be September. Nevertheless, Japan was still as hot as Korea.

Even on this morning.

But regardless of the weather, a top-class sedan smoothly pulled out of a magnificent house. It was Hideki Chairman’s car. Another sedan followed behind. The bodyguards were in the car behind. Hideki Chairman can be seen sitting in the back seat of the front car. He had white-haired eyebrows and was wearing a suit.

-Flap.

Hideki Chairman, while unfolding the prepared newspaper, called the chief secretary sitting in the passenger seat.

“Do you know the Korean actor named Kang Woo-jin?”

At the sudden question, she turned her head and immediately answered.

“Japan has been noisy recently because of that actor. So, I know about him.”

“I see.”

“Why do you ask?”

“Find out about the Korean actor Kang Woo-jin. As soon as possible.”

“Yes?”

At the question, Hideki Chairman muttered quietly.

“There’s something I need to thank him for, that’s all you need to know.”