I was Mistaken as a Monstrous Genius Actor [EN]: Chapter 23

“Self-taught… you’re kidding, right?”

The making team woman clung to hope. It had to be a joke to lighten the heavy atmosphere of the reading. But Kang Woo-jin’s answer was low and confident.

“I am self-taught.”

“Really? Seriously?”

“Yes, seriously.”

In an instant, the making team woman covered her mouth with one hand. She was shocked. She hadn’t expected the word ‘self-taught’ to come out. This was the same for the dozens of people left in the hall.

Entertainment officials, production staff, and reporters began to whisper noticeably.

“What did he just say?”

“Self-taught? He learned acting by himself?”

“That doesn’t make sense, he must be joking. We saw his acting, right? That’s not the kind of quality you get from self-teaching.”

“But, his expression is so serious?”

Of course, the actors, including Ryu Jung-min, were in a similar state.

Especially him.

‘Self-taught? No, self-taught???’

Ryu Jung-min, the male lead of ‘Profiler Hanryang,’ looked genuinely shocked. It was even more so after seeing Kang Woo-jin’s incredible acting. The veteran actors sitting around him also had stiff expressions. Naturally, all the actors found it hard to believe at the moment.

Except for one person.

-Swish.

It was Hong Hye-yeon, who had just taken out her phone. Among the dozens of actors, she was the only one with a nonchalant reaction. Because she already knew.

‘Everyone’s eyes are about to pop out. Well, I get it. Even I, who already knew, still find it hard to accept.’

And two more. Song Man-woo PD [Production Director] and writer Park Eun-mi, sitting side by side at the ㅁ-shaped table. The two big shots were watching the situation without any particular intervention.

Before they knew it, the atmosphere in the large hall had become chaotic.

The word Kang Woo-jin uttered was just ‘self-taught,’ but at this moment, an enormous amount of misunderstandings and misinterpretations were overflowing. It was impossible to make them understand one by one.

Around this time, Kang Woo-jin, the protagonist who fired the starting gun for everything, was.

‘Stay calm, Kang Woo-jin.’

He was doing his best to maintain a poker face. He had to create an atmosphere befitting the word ‘self-taught’ for the sake of looking tough.

‘Control your expression, control your expression.’

Even though it started as a smokescreen or a cover-up to hide his embarrassment, the concept of being self-taught had now become a trademark for Woo-jin, who had been deeply immersed in it. Song Man-woo PD and Park Eun-mi were already aware of it.

‘It might look a bit arrogant, but it can’t be helped. It’s already out of my mouth.’

Consistency was necessary for a concept. At least, that’s what Kang Woo-jin thought. Going back and forth would only make him look like an idiot. He had accidentally buttoned it wrong from the beginning, but what could he do now that he had come this far?

More than anything.

‘It’s not a lie, is it? Even though I have a cheat key, I did learn by myself. Yeah, so it’s safe.’

In a way, Kang Woo-jin’s words were not false. The period was ridiculously short, but it was true that he had done it alone. Kang Woo-jin repeatedly comforted himself with self-reassurance. There were top actors in this hall. It was better to get hit quickly, all at once.

However.

‘Ugh, I’m nervous. I think it’s time to run away.’

The eyes of veteran actors, like the senior actors, were too sharp. It was a big burden for Kang Woo-jin, whose core was that of an ordinary citizen. He was already tense all over, and continuing the concept in front of them was a problem. He had been doing it for more than half a day, so his stamina was also depleted. Therefore, Woo-jin chose to run. That is, to escape.

-Creak.

Woo-jin, with a poker face, slowly got up from his seat and bowed slightly to the making team in front of him.

“I’m sorry, I’m not good with words.”

Then, the making team awkwardly replied and made way. At this point, Woo-jin’s mind was full of only going straight. The people left in the hall just watched him leave.

At that moment.

“Hey, Hong Hye-yeon.”

Ryu Jung-min, with a serious look on his face, got up from his seat and approached Hong Hye-yeon.

“You knew, right? Kang Woo-jin came with you.”

Hong Hye-yeon, who was getting ready to leave, swept back her long hair and replied.

“Yeah. Sorry. The PD told me to keep quiet.”

“…Where is Kang Woo-jin from? Is he in your agency?”

“No.”

“Do you know what he used to do? Self-taught doesn’t make sense.”

“I don’t know either, it feels like he suddenly popped up to me too. Ask the PD at the dinner party.”

Hong Hye-yeon, having finished her answer appropriately, joined Choi Sung-gun, the CEO who had approached her with the script. When she was at a reasonable distance from Ryu Jung-min, CEO Choi Sung-gun, with his ponytail, whispered to Hong Hye-yeon. His voice tone was filled with excitement.

“Hey, Hong Hye-yeon. Was what that guy said earlier true? Self-taught, that thing.”

“Yeah. You can try to dig into the theater scene with your connections, but you won’t find him. Acting was his hobby? He actually came out on ‘Super Actor’ for fun.”

“No… does that make sense? Is acting some kind of memorization subject? Then what about the overseas story?”

“I told you, his past is unclear? There must be some reason… Anyway, let’s talk in my room.”

At this moment, everyone left in the hall was busy talking like crazy about Kang Woo-jin.

Meanwhile.

Kang Woo-jin, who had left the large hall a few minutes ago, was walking down the hallway with a blank expression. There were quite a few staff members passing by, and this place was a battlefield, so he couldn’t let his guard down. But because of the accumulated tension, each step was heavy.

‘Ha- I’m so tired. I want to go to my room and lie down quickly.’

Kang Woo-jin, who had maintained his concept from morning until now, was very weary. His body felt like a ton of bricks. He wanted to eat meat, but he thought he should sleep for an hour in his room.

It was then, as he was crossing the first-floor lobby.

“Woo-jin-ssi.”

Someone called Kang Woo-jin from behind. It was a man’s voice. When he turned around, a slightly chubby man was smiling softly as he approached.

“Hello, I’m Park, the manager. I was very impressed with your acting. No, you devoured this script reading.”

“Thank you.”

Who is this? Kang Woo-jin answered as if it was nothing, but his mind was racing. There were so many people that he couldn’t identify who this man was. An actor? Fortunately, at this point, the chubby man handed Woo-jin a business card.

“I’m Kim Nam-gu, the head of BHM Entertainment.”

Ah, he’s from an entertainment company. More than twice as many entertainment officials as actors attended today’s script reading. Anyway, Kim Nam-gu, the head, smiled and continued.

“I’m very interested in Woo-jin-ssi, do you have an agency?”

“No, not yet.”

“Oh! Really?!”

Woo-jin nodded nonchalantly, but he was slightly excited inside.

‘Wow- is this what they call a contact or a scout?! Awesome.’

Kim Nam-gu, the head, who didn’t know this, stuck close to Kang Woo-jin.

“Please! Please! Contact me. I’d like to talk at length at our company after this reading. Woo-jin-ssi, I’m really, really interested in you. This strange atmosphere, and your incredible acting skills from earlier.”

“Ah, yes.”

“Haha, as you know, our BHM Entertainment is…”

The chubby head went on and on about his company. It seemed to be a large entertainment company. Of course, it was boring for Woo-jin, who didn’t know the market well, and fortunately, the head, who read Woo-jin’s expression, quickly finished his explanation.

“Let’s talk more at the company. Please contact me. If it’s Woo-jin-ssi, we can offer you exceptional conditions.”

He didn’t know what ‘exceptional’ meant, but Kang Woo-jin put the business card in his pocket and nodded appropriately.

“Yes, I’ll think about it.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Kang Woo-jin moved his feet. He wanted to get to his room quickly. But when Woo-jin arrived in front of the elevator.

“Kang Woo-jin-ssi!”

He was caught again by someone. This time it was a woman’s voice.

“Do you have an agency?!”

Several tens of minutes later.

It was a distance that would normally take 5 minutes, but it was 30 minutes later that Kang Woo-jin arrived at his room. As soon as he closed the door of his room.

-Click.

Kang Woo-jin, leaning his back against the door, collapsed. His legs gave way, and he sat down on the floor with a thud.

“Ha- I’m going to die.”

An unfamiliar place, unfamiliar top actors, a hundred or so people he had never seen before, and even acting. The tension had been at its peak for more than half a day since morning, and he had maintained his concept for a similar amount of time, so it was only natural that he was tired.

Then, Kang Woo-jin leaned his head against the door and spaced out.

“…What did I do today?”

He felt like he had experienced a war, but when he looked back, he couldn’t remember well. Then, Woo-jin took something out of his flight jacket pocket.

-Swish.

It was a stack of business cards. Kang Woo-jin roughly placed the business cards down in front of him. There seemed to be about 8 of them. He didn’t even look at them properly. Everyone had given him a business card and explained something, but his memory was hazy.

“Were they all from entertainment companies? Ah- I think there was one from a production company or something.”

He didn’t know. Right now, Woo-jin just wanted to lie down on the bed. He had to shower, but his brain desperately wanted rest. Therefore, Woo-jin.

-Thud!

He threw himself onto the bed. Sleep quickly poured in. Oh no, that won’t do. Woo-jin, who was about to close his eyes, set an alarm on his phone. For an hour later.

Soon.

“Oh- this is so comfortable…”

Kang Woo-jin fell into a deep sleep.

About two hours later, around 7 PM.

Behind the outdoor parking lot of the Building 1 condo, a barbecue party was in full swing in a fairly large open space. Of course, it was the ‘Profiler Hanryang’ team. Temporary tables and chairs and barbecue equipment were set up on the artificial turf. The menu included beef and pork belly, etc.

About 50% of the total number of people attended.

Almost all of the production staff, including Song Man-woo PD, joined. However, writer Park Eun-mi was not seen. Quite a few entertainment officials also gathered. Some of the actors had left the condo due to their schedules or had chosen to rest. The veteran actors only showed their faces at the beginning and went inside or hardly came out of their rooms.

That left about 50 people.

The problem was that Kang Woo-jin, who was craving beef, was also nowhere to be seen. The reason was simple.

Kang Woo-jin was sound asleep, oblivious to the world.

Meanwhile, Ryu Jung-min, at a table with 8 actors, had a thoughtful look on his face. He had been filled with thoughts of Kang Woo-jin since earlier.

‘Kang Woo-jin, he was an actor of a type I’ve never seen before. Even after seeing him directly, I can’t gauge him? And what’s with the self-taught thing?’

Ryu Jung-min was a high-tier actor even among top actors. He had seen thousands of actors so far. But the actor Kang Woo-jin was hard to judge. He was truly an oddball. An unfathomable expression and behavior, a hollow yet solid gaze, a high self-esteem aura, and incredible acting skills with an unknown origin and end.

The only thing that was certain here was one thing.

‘Yeah, self-taught is just something he said. There’s no way you can produce that Park Manager quality with self-teaching.’

‘Park Manager’ was one of the best performances in Ryu Jung-min’s acting career.

At this time.

“But it’s a bit much.”

A female actor sitting at Ryu Jung-min’s table grumbled slightly.

“I don’t know about others, but shouldn’t Kang Woo-jin-ssi attend the dinner party? He turned the script reading upside down earlier, and more than anything, he’s a rookie, right?”

She seemed to have a complaint.

“I wonder if he’s already become arrogant just because he’s good at acting. I’m a bit uncomfortable with those kinds of people. His expression is almost indifferent, and his personality seems a bit off.”

Soon, the actors sitting at the table seemed to agree slightly. It was Ryu Jung-min who surprisingly opposed it.

“Well. He was closer to a monster than just being good at acting, in my eyes. And in the first place, the PD said that attending the dinner party was optional. It’s not the 90s anymore. If you’re tired, you can skip it.”

“B-but still!”

“Besides.”

Ryu Jung-min, sweeping back his long hair, continued calmly.

“Didn’t you see Park Manager earlier? After drawing out that level of intense emotion. It’s not an emotion that will clear up in a few hours. Wouldn’t Woo-jin-ssi think that coming to the dinner party would be a nuisance?”

“Hmm…”

“We’re characters whose emotions build up as the story progresses, but the sociopath Park Manager is already complete. He has to show it right from the first part. The intensity itself is different.”

At this point, one or two actors began to understand.

“Indeed. Woo-jin-ssi drew out that much emotion in an instant, right?”

“That’s right, he must have been doing a lot of mind control for a few hours before the reading started.”

“We were all so amazed, he must have had countless emotional conflicts.”

Ryu Jung-min took the baton again.

“His emotional recovery after acting was unbelievably fast, but it’s just for show, his insides must be a mess. Talking to others in that state would only make it hard for each other.”

“I’ve had that experience too. When my emotions get intense, I tend to get annoyed at the people around me.”

“Kang Woo-jin-ssi looked a bit precarious. He was always expressionless. He needs to control his emotions well.”

“He looked a bit dangerous to me. Don’t you think so? Woo-jin-ssi’s acting was really method acting. Maybe even more than that.”

“The role itself is also sensitive. A sociopath. It would be hard even if you can distinguish between reality and the world of the play.”

As expected of acting experts, their opinions flowed out smoothly. Here, Ryu Jung-min delivered the final blow.

“He’s probably suffering a lot by himself right now. Trying to recover his emotions.”

He was wrong. The protagonist of this conversation was.

“Everyone has had that experience, right? How difficult it is to recover emotions.”

He was just sleeping soundly without any thoughts.

The next morning, Kang Woo-jin’s room.

Kang Woo-jin, who had fallen asleep in the same clothes as yesterday, was visible. It was at this moment that his phone near his head emitted a ringtone.

-♬♪

Kang Woo-jin suddenly opened his eyes wide at the loud ringtone. Wiping his drool was a bonus.

“Huh! Did I fall asleep? What time is it?”

He muttered to himself and picked up his phone. He had a call. The caller was top actress Hong Hye-yeon. He also checked the time.

“7 AM?? Wow- did I sleep for 2 hours?”

Then, Woo-jin, who was about to answer the phone a bit hastily, paused. It was to lower his voice.

“Yes, hello.”

Hong Hye-yeon’s laughter-filled answer was heard from the other side of the phone.

“You’re awake, right? Come out, let’s go.”

“Okay.”

-Click.

The moment he hung up, Kang Woo-jin thought of the beef. The dinner party was at 7 PM, so it wasn’t too late yet. Hong Hye-yeon was going out now, so it would be okay.

Then, Kang Woo-jin stopped moving.

“Huh? Why is it bright?”

Bright light was slightly visible through the curtains. That wasn’t the light of the afternoon. Thanks to that, Woo-jin pulled the curtains wide open.

“Ugh!”

The dazzling sunlight enveloped him. At this moment, Kang Woo-jin had a hunch.

“Oh, no way.”

He immediately checked his phone. Soon, Woo-jin covered his face with a sigh.

“It’s 7 AM, not PM- Damn it, I’m screwed.”

He realized that he had skipped the beef because of sleep.

About an hour later.

The outdoor parking lot in front of the condo was crowded. Staff members packing their luggage, actors getting into vans, etc. Among them, Song Man-woo PD, who had said goodbye to Kang Woo-jin a few tens of minutes ago, was visible.

Of course, writer Park Eun-mi, wearing a hairband, was also with him.

The two were looking at the large white van in front. It was Hong Hye-yeon’s van. And now, Kang Woo-jin and Hong Hye-yeon were in the van, and the next one was bw Entertainment CEO Choi Sung-gun.

Park Eun-mi, who was watching it, crossed her arms and opened her mouth.

“They came separately, but after seeing Woo-jin-ssi’s acting, the CEO is going with them.”

Song Man-woo PD chuckled.

“Hong Star seems very interested in Woo-jin-ssi. The CEO and Hong Star are one body, so it’s obvious what they’ll talk about. I thought it would be like that. Ah, come to think of it, was Hye-yeon-ssi the face and investor of bw Entertainment?”

“I heard that Woo-jin-ssi received a lot of business cards from entertainment companies yesterday. In my career as a writer, it’s the first time I’ve seen an unknown actor collecting business cards on the day of the reading.”

“Woo-jin-ssi isn’t an ordinary unknown actor. His impact is different, right? Anyway, Kang Woo-jin will be the first unknown actor in the industry to receive a signing bonus, no matter which company he signs with.”

“A signing bonus?”

At the question, Song Man-woo PD smiled deeply.

“He’s a friend who gave me time to assess his value and then negotiated to raise his appearance fee. He’s clever.”

Song Man-woo PD, recalling the day of his contract with Kang Woo-jin, recited as if he was certain.

“With that kind of guts, there’s no way he wouldn’t receive a signing bonus.”

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