I was Mistaken as a Monstrous Genius Actor [EN]: Chapter 2

Song Man-woo, the veteran drama PD at SBC, a man in his fifties with a beard, had an exceptional eye for actors. He was known to be quite picky.

He had the experience to back it up.

He had been directing dramas for nearly 20 years, creating at least 15 works, many of which were hits. So, when he was first asked to be a judge for the first preliminary round of ‘Super Actor,’ he didn’t have high expectations.

‘At best, maybe one or two out of 1,000 will be worth watching.’

Even then, they would likely be no different from the rest once they entered the industry. As expected, the first participant in the judging was a mess. It was Kang Woo-jin.

Song Man-woo PD’s first impression of Woo-jin was:

‘He looks like he’s missing a screw.’

He seemed like a dimwit. As if to confirm it, the top actress Hong Hye-yeon, sitting to his left, said,

“PD-nim [PD is a common abbreviation for Producer-Director], doesn’t he seem a bit out of it?”

The casting director from a famous production company, sitting to his right, also shared a similar sentiment.

“I know, right? He seems off from the start.”

Kang Woo-jin seemed completely out of it. To Song Man-woo PD, his appearance was lifeless. There seemed to be no point in watching him act.

On top of that.

“Sunbae-nim [Sunbae is a Korean term for a senior or mentor], can I have a word?”

The whisper of the main PD of ‘Super Actor,’ a short-haired female PD, amplified Song Man-woo PD’s sigh.

“He’s not an official participant. He just came along with a friend, and that friend went to the bathroom and hasn’t come back.”

“So?”

“If the first participant is eliminated, the vibe and the overall picture will be off, so how about we just have him act once to kill time?”

“Kill time?”

“Yes. It would be great if we could get a funny clip out of it. Anyway, we need some source material for the YouTube trailers and teasers.”

In other words, that dimwit wasn’t even an official participant.

“So, you’re going to use him as a sacrificial lamb for a hook?”

“Eyy—‘sacrificial lamb’ is too harsh. Let’s just try it out, that’s all.”

“…Well, it’s your call as the main PD. But you should definitely ask him if he’s okay with it, right?”

“Of course. It’s not like we’re in the Stone Age.”

Kang Woo-jin, a regular person or a sacrificial lamb for a hook. That was the conclusion reached by the three judges, including Song Man-woo PD. And so began Kang Woo-jin’s acting.

The atmosphere changed drastically in just 5 seconds.

“Hukk! Keuhuk!”

The seemingly out-of-it Kang Woo-jin delivered a shock to Song Man-woo PD’s face. The expression on actress Hong Hye-yeon’s face was also something to behold.

And then, 1 minute.

Before they knew it, everyone in the room had stopped thinking. Not only the judges watching Kang Woo-jin crawling madly on the floor, but also the dozen or so ‘Super Actor’ staff members.

Kang Woo-jin’s acting was that powerful.

The power to captivate the eyes of the veterans here in just 1 minute.

“Eueup! Heuheueu-”

It was realistic, lifelike, and intense. Even without looking at the script, it was clear that Kang Woo-jin was in the mountains, being attacked by a stranger.

Song Man-woo PD, who witnessed it right in front of him, thought,

‘This isn’t just luck or talent. This is at least 5 years, maybe 10 years of honing.’

He completely reversed his assessment of Kang Woo-jin. It was a skill that even the top actors who made a living out of acting couldn’t easily show.

‘…Emotions become attitudes, and feelings become postures.’

There, worries become expressions, and smells become delusions. All of this mixes together to produce the expression of a character, and only after carefully considering that expression can a suitable line be uttered.

It’s only after endlessly repeating that process that one can barely get a single good take.

Many actors in Korea stake their lives on this process. Even the top stars and veteran actors who are praised as the best.

But this guy.

‘He… he’s implementing it after just glancing at the script?’

Kang Woo-jin was doing it as easily as breathing. It wasn’t just a matter of being good at acting. Woo-jin simply embodied the character in the script. But the shock didn’t end there. It was because of Kang Woo-jin’s calm answer to the question.

“I taught myself.”

Self-taught? He acquired this insane acting through self-study?

‘…Just how lonely of a path has he walked?’

And so, Kang Woo-jin stunned the top actress, the veteran drama PD, and everyone else in the industry.

-Click.

He calmly walked out of the room. No one stopped him. They were all just wearing dumbfounded expressions.

After this.

“I-I’m sorry!!”

Kang Woo-jin’s friend, the real first participant, entered. Kim Dae-young, with a guilty expression, was quite burly, and as soon as Song Man-woo PD saw him, his first question was this:

“What does your friend who came with you do for a living?”

“…Huh? Ah—he does design. Why do you ask?”

“Constantly?”

“Yes. He’s always just done design…”

Here, all the answers Kang Woo-jin had given were proven to be true. Including the self-taught part. Song Man-woo PD felt like he had encountered a hidden master.

Then, with his head full of the monster called Kang Woo-jin,

“Alright, Kim Dae-young-ssi [ssi is a Korean honorific], let’s see your acting.”

He turned his gaze to Kim Dae-young.

“Yes!”

However, unfortunately, Kim Dae-young’s acting.

“Cut. That’s enough. You’ve worked hard.”

Ended in 15 seconds.

10 minutes later, at the bus stop in front of the SBC headquarters’ art center.

There were quite a few people around. Families and friends who had come along for today’s preliminary round, and so on. Among them, Kang Woo-jin, who had fled the art center, was also visible.

“Aish… damn it.”

He was sitting on the bus stop bench, pressing his temples. He had a headache, but he was also trying to sort out the shocking events that had just happened.

‘A black square appeared next to the script, right? When I pressed it, I got sucked into a strange space.’

An endlessly dark subspace.

‘The script I received was floating in that hellish place, and when I grabbed it… I suddenly moved to a crazy mountain. I definitely died there, right??’

It was certain. Kang Woo-jin had died once in that dark mountain. By a black-faced stranger. It wasn’t a vague thing like imagination, a dream, or a memory.

Kang Woo-jin’s body had clearly moved, and he had experienced it 100% firsthand.

It was even vivid now. It felt like he could show the emotions and appearance of that mountain right now. It was like it was firmly embedded in his body.

‘This is like… I actually time-traveled?’

What the hell was that damn subspace? What was it that made a perfectly normal person experience death?

“No, how is that even possible in the first place?”

Just then.

-Vrr, vrr.

Woo-jin’s phone in his padded jacket vibrated loudly. It was a call from Kim Dae-young.

5 minutes passed like that.

From afar, the burly Kim Dae-young came running.

“Hey, hey! Kang Woo-jin!”

As soon as he saw his friend arrive, Kang Woo-jin grabbed him by the collar.

“You crazy bastard. Did you go save a country while taking a dump?”

“…Haha. Sorry. No, seriously, I kept going. I thought I was going to die.”

“Shut up. I actually died.”

“What?”

Kim Dae-young tilted his head. Soon, Kang Woo-jin let out a long sigh and released the collar he was holding.

“Ha—it’s fine. Anyway, how was the preliminary round?”

“Oh, yeah, I did it. Ah! But did you go in instead of me??”

“Why?”

“No, the judges kept asking about you? They were like, what kind of guy are you?”

Here, Kang Woo-jin, reminded of his earlier humiliation, quickly changed the subject.

“Tsk, it was nothing. So, did you pass?”

“No? 15-second cut in acting. Immediate out.”

“Congratulations, you crazy bastard.”

“Whatever. I didn’t have high expectations anyway. By the way, did you see Hong Hye-yeon? You saw her, right? She’s amazing, right?”

When the top actress’s name came up, Kang Woo-jin’s face was filled with sincerity.

“She’s like an angel. No, she is an angel.”

“How can a person be so pretty? It was the first time I cursed because someone was so pretty.”

“I agree. When else in our lives would we see Hong Hye-yeon so close? We even talked to her.”

“We’ll probably never see her again, but I’ll remember it for the rest of my life.”

“Yeah. Seeing Hong Hye-yeon today was okay, but the rest was trash.”

Then.

-Swish.

Kang Woo-jin’s eyes caught the paper tucked under Kim Dae-young’s arm. The three-page script he had seen earlier. He stared at the script and suddenly reached out his hand.

“Hey, give me that script.”

“Huh? Ah, okay.”

The script in Kim Dae-young’s hand was just a script. Nothing special about it. However, as soon as the script passed into Kang Woo-jin’s hand, the situation changed.

‘Ah—damn it.’

The black square that hadn’t been there appeared next to the script. A shape that looked like a swirl of gray and black. It almost looked like the shadow of the script.

‘I’m going crazy, really.’

Whatever it was, the black square appeared just like before. In other words, if he tapped it with his index finger, he would be sucked into that hellish space. But he didn’t intend to do that right now.

-Flip.

With a calm face, Kang Woo-jin unfolded the script. Come to think of it, it was the first time he was reading it. And as soon as he read the first line of the script, Woo-jin was certain.

‘As expected. It’s the same… content as what I experienced.’

The content of the script and the experience Kang Woo-jin had in the mountains were the same.

A frightened man in a brown windbreaker, his emotions, feelings, an unidentified stranger, the mountains, rustling leaves, a bleak wind, being stabbed by something, the frightened man’s scream, begging on his hands and knees, being stabbed again, and so on.

‘I chose the frightened man, right? Then, as a result—the character and situation in the script become me…’

Who would believe this crazy story? But Woo-jin was certain. So, for now.

‘I need to check a few things.’

He had to experiment with what came to mind. Then, he could decide whether to ignore it or not.

Soon.

“Hey.”

Kang Woo-jin, who turned his head, asked Kim Dae-young, who was looking at him strangely.

“Was your house in Pangyo?”

“Yeah. Why the sudden question about my house?”

“Do you have any scripts at home? Preferably recent ones. Any kind will do.”

“…I do have some. They come in from here and there. But why the sudden interest in scripts? You don’t even watch TV.”

“Never mind.”

Woo-jin, who had taken out his phone, opened a taxi app.

“Let’s go to your house, right now.”

About two hours later. At Kim Dae-young’s house.

The burly Kim Dae-young lived with his parents in an apartment near Pangyo Station. However, his parents weren’t home right now, and Woo-jin immediately entered Kim Dae-young’s room.

Kang Woo-jin immediately frowned.

“Wow—you bastard, do you even poop in your sleep? What’s this stink?”

Because there was a musty smell. But Kim Dae-young shrugged as if it was nothing.

“Men’s rooms are usually like this. Your house that smells nice is the abnormal one.”

“What a load of crap. Hey, open a window.”

The window was immediately opened. Then, Kang Woo-jin held out his hand to Kim Dae-young.

“The scripts?”

“Ah, just a moment. The ones I received recently and the ones I’ve seen are somewhere here.”

Soon, Kim Dae-young began rummaging through the bookshelf. Woo-jin watched him with a slightly pathetic look, and it was 3 minutes later that Kim Dae-young held up the scripts.

“Found them. Two drama scripts and one movie scenario. Is three enough?”

“Yeah.”

Two neat book-style scripts and one movie scenario in a pile of paper. A total of three were placed in Kang Woo-jin’s hand. And.

‘As expected, it’s like this.’

Black squares appeared next to the two scripts and the scenario. They were just slightly different in size. Anyway, Woo-jin, having finished the first confirmation here, let out a long sigh.

“Hoo-”

He checked the current time. 11:41 AM. Then, Woo-jin extended his slightly trembling index finger. Then, Kim Dae-young, who was sitting in front of him, let out a hollow laugh.

“Are you crazy? Are you ET? What are you doing?”

With a rather serious face, Kang Woo-jin replied to his friend.

“Keep a close eye on me. Okay?”

“I’m watching.”

At that moment.

-Thwack!

Woo-jin’s index finger strongly poked one of the black squares next to the book-style script. Then.

“Ugh!”

With a feeling of his whole body tingling, the subspace pulled Kang Woo-jin in, and after feeling a vague sensation for a moment, Woo-jin chuckled in bewilderment.

“I’m here again.”

Because his vision was filled with an endlessly dark space. He had entered again. Into this space he didn’t even know what it was. The ambiguous sensation of floating was the same.

However.

“Let’s see—”

Perhaps because he had already experienced it once, Woo-jin was quite calm now. He had a bit of leeway, you could say? Still, the fear and terror were still there. But Kang Woo-jin had to pull himself together.

-Swish.

He turned his body and checked behind him. As expected, it was there. A white square floating at about chest height. What was interesting was.

“There’s more?”

There was a difference from before. There were two white squares, not one.

In other words.

“It seems like they keep getting added.”

It meant that the number increased as he acquired new scripts or scenarios. He hadn’t checked up close yet, but it was obvious that the second white square was the book-style script that Kang Woo-jin had touched just before.

But Woo-jin didn’t approach the floating white squares.

“Then, for now.”

Another experiment was first.

“Exit!”

He shouted loudly, but there was no change.

“Out! Log out! Outside!”

After that, Kang Woo-jin shouted other words with similar meanings.

“Go back! Hey! Woman! Let me out! Turn off!”

About 5 minutes passed like that.

At this time.

“Aish—damn it! Dismiss!!”

With the word ‘dismiss,’ gray covered Kang Woo-jin. It was instantaneous.

“Hup!”

Thanks to that, he unknowingly let out a groan. Soon, Kim Dae-young’s voice was heard in Woo-jin’s ear.

“Hey! What was that all of a sudden? Are you okay?”

As Woo-jin slowly turned his head, the burly Kim Dae-young came into view. He had returned to his room. He was a bit dazed, but he had definitely escaped from that subspace.

If that was the case, there was only one answer.

‘Dismiss. That’s the command to get out.’

Woo-jin immediately checked the current time. 11:41 AM. It was the same as when he had entered that hellish space.

‘I was there for about 5 minutes. But the time is the same.’

When you enter a subspace of immeasurable size, the outside time stops. Or it goes by several times slower. Woo-jin, who had come up with a reasonable answer, asked Kim Dae-young.

“How was I just now?”

“What? You were just acting like ET, poking around with your index finger?”

“Next time.”

“You paused for a moment and then suddenly went ‘hup.’ Hey, are you really okay?”

From his friend’s reaction, Kang Woo-jin stroked his chin.

“This is interesting. Then, next—”

It was when Woo-jin was extending his index finger again.

-Vrr, vrr, vrr.

Kim Dae-young’s phone, which was on the desk, vibrated loudly. Thanks to that, he, who had been looking at Woo-jin with concern, picked up the phone.

“Yes—hello.”

Soon, Kim Dae-young, who was talking to someone on the phone, made eye contact with Woo-jin, who was sitting in front of him.

“Yes, yes, yes, ah! Yes? Ah, yes, yes. Just a moment. He’s right here.”

After finishing his words, Kim Dae-young pushed the phone towards Woo-jin. Whispering softly.

“The ‘Super Actor’ PD, she wants to talk to you?”

Kang Woo-jin immediately frowned. Anyway, he took the phone.

“Yes.”

A slightly excited female voice was heard from the other side of the phone.

“Kang Woo-jin-ssi?? Aish—I was so surprised when you suddenly rushed off like that!”

As soon as he heard her voice, Kang Woo-jin’s pretense and bluffing were activated again. Because the humiliation from earlier was slowly raising its head.

“No, well. Yes.”

“Um—Woo-jin-ssi? Do you perhaps have any intention of appearing on ‘Super Actor’ again?”

“Why?”

“You passed! First round pass! It would be really great if you could come to the second preliminary round! The story is good too, you came along with a friend but you’re the one who passed? It’s interesting, right?”

Are you going to make me a laughingstock? What a load of crap. Kang Woo-jin replied to the excited PD on the phone in a low and heavy voice. Maintaining the concept was important.

“I don’t want to.”

The pretense was a passive skill, and he added an excuse to neutralize the humiliation.

“It was just for fun anyway.”

It implied that it was a pointless act to kill time, so please forget about it. But the ‘Super Actor’ PD on the phone seemed to have taken it in a different direction.

“That acting… was just for fun?”

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