I was Mistaken as a Monstrous Genius Actor [EN]: Chapter 196

Kang Woo-jin was inside a van.

The location was a bustling Hollywood road. The van Woo-jin was in was quite large, but surprisingly, there were only a few people inside: Kang Woo-jin, Choi Sung-gun, a hired driver, and two BW Entertainment staff members, including a translator.

The rest were waiting at their accommodation.

Meanwhile, Kang Woo-jin, looking out the window, was dressed in a full suit. Although he didn’t have a tie, he was wearing dress shoes.

“······”

His poker face was truly impressive.

‘Wow, there are so many people. Is this really Hollywood? I’ve never seen such a crowd before.’

Inwardly, however, he couldn’t help but be amazed by the swarm of foreigners, like ants. Where were all these people of various races heading? The densely packed buildings on both sides were also fascinating.

Everything he saw was new.

Bus stops, crosswalks, and so on. They existed in Korea as well, but the feeling was different. It was like being inside a movie.

At that moment.

“Woo-jin.”

Choi Sung-gun, with his ponytail, who had been writing in a diary in the passenger seat, turned his head.

“According to the navigation, we’ll arrive in 10 minutes, but the traffic is terrible, so it’ll take longer. Can you see that sign over there? The one that says ‘Winner Movie Pictures’?”

Kang Woo-jin followed Choi Sung-gun’s finger and checked the sign on the roof of the building in the distance.

“Yes, I see it.”

“That’s the place. Ugh, it would be a hundred times faster to run.”

Indeed, if the sign was visible, they were almost there. Still, with the traffic, it would take several tens of minutes more. Therefore, Woo-jin.

“Hmm-”

Slowly crossing his legs, he picked up the script on his lap. Of course, a swirling black rectangle was right next to it. It was provided by ‘Winner Movie Pictures’.

‘One more time before we start?’

As if planning to prepare for the screen test right around the corner, Kang Woo-jin suddenly.

-Poke.

He poked the black rectangle with his index finger. In an instant, his background changed from a congested road to an infinitely dark subspace.

Woo-jin, who had entered the familiar subspace, stretched out.

“Aah-!!”

He also dropped the serious expression he had been wearing. Woo-jin, feeling much more comfortable, walked towards the place where several white rectangles were floating. He focused his gaze on the one at the very end.

-[10/Script (Title: Unknown), Grade F (Cannot be Judged)]

-[*The completeness is very low. It is a damaged script or scenario. 100% reading is impossible. (Approximately 30% can be implemented)]

A phrase he hadn’t seen in quite a while. The first thing Kang Woo-jin had read (experienced) in the subspace was also a script. Then, Kang Woo-jin nonchalantly selected the white rectangle of the script. The letters that appeared quickly changed.

There were only two roles.

Well, he had already done the reading (experience), but due to the nature of the subspace, it was good to repeat it.

Moreover.

“It feels like my body is getting strangely lighter-”

Woo-jin felt his body becoming more flexible. He didn’t know the exact reason, but he could guess. Perhaps it was the ‘martial arts’ he had learned growing up. It was obviously a power of the subspace.

Anyway.

-Swish.

Kang Woo-jin selected a role in the script. Soon, a robotic female voice echoed throughout the subspace.

[“······Preparation complete. It is a damaged script or scenario. The implementation rate is approximately 30%. Starting the reading.”]

Something quickly enveloped Woo-jin. It wasn’t long before his vision began to take shape again. It wasn’t the subspace. The temperature was ambiguous. Or, should he say there was none? Kang Woo-jin was clearly in some kind of space, but it was hard to explain.

Mostly because everything was blurry.

Woo-jin was standing in such a place. Unusually, the outfit he was wearing was clear. A suit. Around him, mirrors the size of a person were embedded everywhere. Because it was blurry, it was impossible to see what was reflected in the mirrors. The floor was brown. The ceiling was black. The width was hard to gauge.

And.

-Swish.

In an instant, someone appeared between the mirrors. Was their height similar to Kang Woo-jin’s? They were also wearing a suit, but their face was entirely gray except for the silhouette. As if they never had eyes, nose, or lips to begin with. As soon as he saw the figure, several things became clear to Kang Woo-jin in the space.

More precisely, emotions were hammered into him.

The beginning was recognition. The middle was murderous intent. The end was elimination.

Those three things made the stopped Kang Woo-jin move. No other secondary feelings arose.

Only one.

Elimination.

Right now, Kang Woo-jin’s mind was filled with only purpose.

Therefore.

-Swish.

Kang Woo-jin’s foot in dress shoes moved, and his eyes contained a subtle murderous intent. It gradually intensified.

Become agile. Be alert. Feel the breath. Grasp the twist of the smallest muscles. Break the neck. The opponent is not easy. So, it will be a fleeting moment.

Prepare yourself.

At this moment.

-Thwack!

Kang Woo-jin, who had gotten close to his opponent, aimed for the neck with his right hand, and the gray-faced figure blocked his hand and then struck Woo-jin’s empty side with his knee. From here, in the strange space,

-Thwack! Thud! Clack!

Only short impact sounds echoed.

The white building owned by ‘Winner Movie Pictures’.

A building entirely made up of interior sets and studios. Among them, the 4th floor, where the screen test for ‘Last Kill 3’ would soon take place, was almost ready.

The floor of the large space was covered with mats without any gaps, and the windows were covered to partially block the strong light coming in from outside. Cameras on tripods were set up in the east, west, south, and north of the studio, and model partitions were installed here and there, with the center as the starting point. These were substitutes for the mirrors that appeared in the scenario.

A long table was placed at the front of the studio entrance, and several monitors were placed on it. Two cameras were also set up here.

Just by looking, the scale was considerable.

More than five cameras were deployed, and there were over 30 foreign staff members moving busily throughout the studio. And what about the elaborate props? Indeed, it felt completely different from a typical audition.

Whatever the case, the dozens of foreign staff members, a mix of men and women of various races.

“Honestly, I didn’t expect them to even install mirrors.”

“It’s a screen test. It’s a relief they didn’t set up real mirrors.”

“Hahaha, is that so? But aren’t there more cameras than last time?”

“It’s probably because the test includes action.”

They each chatted and finished setting up.

“I heard a Korean actor was added to the actors participating today?”

“I heard so. It’s sudden, but director George Mendes is known to be a bit eccentric.”

“Still, it’s a bit sudden. The scenario originally had a Chinese character. And now a Korean actor who wasn’t even mentioned.”

“I like Korea. I went to Seoul last year. But I don’t have the impression that Korean actors are good at martial arts. They’re hard to see in Hollywood, and there’s no data on them.”

“True, we often see Chinese actors, but Korean actors are rare. Is it just for show?”

“Maybe? I think the main ones are the Chinese actors who were originally supposed to come. Is the Korean actor just an experiment?”

While the staff were walking around the studio, the glass door opened, and foreigners entered again. About a dozen of them. However, this group seemed quite older. The leader among them was a man who looked like Santa.

That is, George Mendes, the director in charge of this screen test.

The people around Director George were mostly film company executives or key members of the filming crew. Behind them followed the familiar female casting director, Megan Stone, and her team, as well as the producer team that coordinated the entire film production. Compared to Korea, these two teams had a significant influence in Hollywood.

Especially the producer team’s influence was like a typhoon.

From the start, Hollywood’s system was completely different from Korea’s, and the scale of investment was beyond imagination. Therefore, the producer team, which was in charge of the entire production, including film companies, investors, directors, and actors, had no choice but to be powerful. Additionally, in Hollywood, one producer team often participated in multiple projects.

The producer team for ‘Last Kill 3’ was also working on several projects at the same time.

Soon, Megan Stone, the leader of the casting team with her brown bobbed hair, looked at the set studio and crossed her arms. Then, she spoke to the leader of the producer team standing next to her.

“It’s a bit modest, isn’t it?”

Then, the leader of the producer team chuckled. He was a tall black man over 190 cm [approximately 6’3″]. His name was Joseph Felton.

“Are you saying we should prepare 48 mirrors for one screen test? That’s a waste.”

“Still, you could have installed them just around the characters.”

“If we save money on preparation, the quality of the filming will improve. More than that, the Korean actor who suddenly joined. Megan, you recommended him, right? What kind of strange idea are you having again?”

“Well, I just contacted the actor that Director George was impressed with.”

“······The director was interested in a Korean actor? Is he good? Or is it for marketing?”

“You’ll find out when you see him. Mind your own business. You have a lot of projects to handle besides ‘Last Kill 3’, right?”

The tall Joseph shrugged his shoulders.

“Calm down. I’m just interested in Korean actors these days. Of course, we can’t ignore the funds coming from China, but I feel that the quality of actors is better in Korea these days. Looking at the growing Korean Wave [Hallyu, the global popularity of South Korean culture], we can’t ignore Korean culture either.”

“That’s the trend.”

“Miley Cara also went to Korea to promote her new movie, right? The demand for the Korean Wave is gradually increasing among the public. So, is this Korean actor famous? Does he have any experience in Hollywood?”

Slightly annoyed, Megan with her bobbed hair received a transparent file from her staff and handed it over.

“He’s quite famous, but his experience is short, and his filmography is unique. Joseph, see for yourself.”

The black Joseph, smirking, opened the file he received. In an instant, his eyes widened. The content was quite fresh.

“······One year? He debuted this year? What, he’s a rookie? You called an actor like this?”

At that moment.

“Standby!!”

A male staff member shouted throughout the studio. Then, the dozens of people who were finishing up quickly left the studio. As a result, the dozens of staff members were reduced to about half, and their places were behind the long table at the front.

-Swish.

Then, Director George Mendes, with his protruding belly, and the key staff members who came with him stood around the cameras set up in the studio, and Director George and a few others sat at the long table that had been placed. When he sat down, it was like Santa Claus had appeared.

That Director George.

“Well, let’s start.”

He muttered in English, looking back at the gathered staff.

“Stunt coordinator team, check the set first.”

Soon, several monitors placed in front of him turned on, and various parts of the studio began to be displayed.

Meanwhile.

When Kang Woo-jin first arrived at this four-story building, he wasn’t particularly nervous.

‘Oh, is this the place where they do the screen test or whatever? It’s ordinary?’

Because there was nothing particularly special about it. But that was a misjudgment. As soon as he entered the first floor and saw the inside of the building, Kang Woo-jin’s mouth dropped open. He didn’t know that the entire building was a set and a studio. Moreover, since all the staff coming and going were foreigners, Woo-jin’s heart gradually began to pound.

The actual site was indeed a world apart.

Thanks to that, by the time Kang Woo-jin got on the elevator, a moderate tension had spread. This wasn’t tension about the screen test. It was the trembling that came with the first experience. An unfamiliar country, staff who spoke a different language, a site that was worlds apart in scale, an unfamiliar urgent atmosphere, and so on.

But he couldn’t look like a pushover after coming all this way.

‘Aish, I’m doing so much mind control. I don’t know, I’ll just pretend this is Gangnam [a wealthy district in Seoul]. Yeah, Gangnam.’

Inside the elevator, Woo-jin calmed his pounding heart while taking a deep breath without showing it, and he maximized his cynicism. As a result, a deeper coldness and composure than usual spread throughout his body.

Okay, the concept is complete.

Soon, Kang Woo-jin arrived at the waiting room he was guided to. So far, it was okay. The problem was the other actors in the waiting room. Three in total. They were all wearing the same suits as Kang Woo-jin.

‘Huh? They don’t seem Japanese. Are they from China?’

They were Asian, but not Japanese. They had somewhat Chinese-looking faces. Since Kang Woo-jin was the only Korean actor, Woo-jin concluded that the actors who had arrived earlier were Chinese.

‘Are they famous? I don’t know them. But their expressions are terribly fierce.’

The Chinese actors’ faces were stiff. They seemed to know each other well, so they were gathered together, but all three actors were staring at Kang Woo-jin, the Korean actor who had just opened the door. No, it was closer to glaring. The staff behind them were also whispering among themselves.

At that moment.

“We’ll start with Mr. Wang Bang.”

With the shout of a foreign male staff member, one of the Chinese actors left the waiting room.

Regardless, in Kang Woo-jin’s mind.

‘Tsk- look at these guys.’

Something was rising up in annoyance. It was exactly that kind of feeling. Like he was representing his country in an international competition. Well, it wasn’t that big of a scale to call it a national team, but still, losing was a bit infuriating, right? Soon, Kang Woo-jin made his expression even firmer and sat in a nearby seat.

Furthermore.

‘I don’t know, I’ll just beat them all.’

The result was for later, and currently, his mind was filled with the thought of beating those Chinese actors. A competitive spirit or a desire to win. A war or battle of his own. Whatever the word, it didn’t matter. This wasn’t a desire to join the work. It was purely a desire based on instinct. Well, Choi Sung-gun and Kang Woo-jin were the only ones who knew this situation.

‘If I lose, I won’t be able to sleep soundly back in Korea.’

Woo-jin was determined to stand out in this scene.

End