I was Mistaken as a Monstrous Genius Actor [EN]: Chapter 273

Still lying face down from his tearful outburst, Kang Woo-jin, having removed Kiyoshi, realized that his face and mouth were covered in snot and saliva.

‘Crazy. How much of this came out?? I’m going to get dehydrated.’

Well, actually, he knew even when he was doing the dried-up crying acting, but acting and reality are different. He knew no one would judge him for having snot all over his face.

‘Still, it’s better to be flawless, right?’

This was part of his self-management, including his concept. There was no need to overreact, but if he started letting go of things like this, it would be easy to give up on everything. Kang Woo-jin, still lying face down, emphasized it to himself once more.

Never let your guard down.

Thanks to that, Woo-jin calmly wiped away the snot and saliva while still lying down. Not in a flustered way, but composedly and smoothly. The twitching was faint. Around this time, Woo-jin heard the sound of applause from the staff behind him.

-Clap clap clap clap clap clap!

What’s that? Why the sudden applause? They wouldn’t be praising him for wiping his snot. It was probably applause for his acting just now. Anyway, he had to get up before that applause ended. His strength was greatly depleted from kneeling for so long and losing so much moisture.

Still, he managed to successfully remove the snot and such.

-Swish.

As if nothing had happened, he stood up smoothly, wearing a composed poker face. It took longer than he thought. Everyone probably noticed that Woo-jin had gotten up after wiping his snot. At least, Kang Woo-jin thought so. At times like this, it was important to have an incredibly thick skin.

‘Whatever, man. Walk confidently.’

Woo-jin made his coldness even more intense than usual. It was a reflexive action to neutralize his embarrassment, even a little. Then, as Woo-jin roughly brushed off his pants, he saw the Japanese actor right in front of him. The actor who played ‘Tsuzuki Itsuma,’ who had been a corpse until just now, was still standing in front of Woo-jin.

Their eyes met.

“……”

“……”

They exchanged glances in silence for a moment.

The Japanese actor looked at Woo-jin’s face, which was even more rigid than before, with his concept dialed up, and was convinced.

‘…His emotions aren’t completely settled yet. But he’s a pro, coming back to himself so quickly.’

Kang Woo-jin flinched inwardly.

‘What is it? Why are you looking at me like that? Is there still snot residue on my face??’

While their conflicting inner thoughts collided, the Japanese actor spoke in Japanese first. He sounded very serious.

“I was moved. By your acting and your demeanor afterward. You don’t have to push yourself. You can take your time. Move after you’ve fully recovered your emotions.”

What the heck was he talking about? Woo-jin had been expecting lines like, ‘There’s still snot on your chin.’

‘But what’s with the moved and recovering emotions? What’s this guy saying?’

Everything about ‘Iyota Kiyoshi’ had already disappeared from Kang Woo-jin’s body. He was like a ghost when it came to putting on and taking off characters. But the Japanese actor’s reaction was strange.

“……”

Woo-jin, maintaining his cynicism, slowly turned his head back. He saw dozens of staff members standing among the various cameras and lights. They all had serious expressions. Some were even covering their mouths with one hand, moved to tears.

Not a single face showed any sign of ‘snot.’

Even.

‘Why is the boss looking so serious again?’

Even Choi Sung-gun, who was always with him, had a very stern expression. At this point, Kang Woo-jin was certain.

This scent, this atmosphere, this unbalanced air.

‘Again, again, again, something went off the rails on its own.’

A misunderstanding or a delusion. It was similar to a situation Woo-jin had experienced somewhere before. Well, it was great for him. Kang Woo-jin didn’t bother to correct the situation by pointing out the snot. He was definitely a pro, a master of concept.

-Swish.

Kang Woo-jin slowly swept back his black hair with his right hand, looked at the Japanese actor, and lowered his voice to a very low tone.

“I haven’t recovered.”

“……Th, then?”

“I remembered.”

At that moment, the Japanese actor’s eyes widened. It meant that Kang Woo-jin’s extreme posturing had worked, and Woo-jin calmly bowed before turning and walking towards Choi Sung-gun. Along the way, he heard the staff’s restrained praise and encouragement. Of course, Woo-jin only responded with appropriately low replies. Soon, Choi Sung-gun, looking serious, asked Kang Woo-jin, who had arrived in front of him.

“Are you okay? It’s your first time doing a tearful, wailing performance, and I was a bit worried because you had to control it. Since you do such intense method acting. But still… even for you, that kind of acting must have been uncomfortable, right? To the point where you couldn’t recover right away.”

No, I wiped my snot, he couldn’t say, so Woo-jin chose arrogance.

“Recovery was easy. The important thing is memory.”

“Memory?”

“Yes, so I can use it later with other things.”

“……You crazy bastard.”

“Thank you.”

Choi Sung-gun, shaking his head as if he was fed up, then gave a thumbs up.

“But man, that scene was amazing. Only you could have pulled off and digested that kind of acting, any other actor would have died from countless NGs [No Good takes]. When it’s released, the audience will be blown away.”

In reality, the kind of acting that Woo-jin had just shown, with its deep emotions like crying and tears, was difficult. Especially, if an actor couldn’t handle a scene, there would be countless NGs and reactions. It was best to do it in one take if possible, but such actors were rare. No, you could say they didn’t exist.

Kang Woo-jin was able to do it and he did it.

Naturally, Director Kyotaro, who was watching Woo-jin from a few steps behind, his hair flattened by the hat he was wearing.

“……That last cut is more than enough.”

He had no intention of calling for a reaction. There was no change in the composition either. What he had seen was the best and the highest. He murmured in Japanese.

“Sometimes, a director deceives an actor.”

At this, the assistant director and staff next to him tilted their heads.

“Yes?”

Director Kyotaro, not taking his eyes off Woo-jin, continued.

“When an actor’s performance is lacking, when an actor’s performance is excessive, when an actor’s performance is mediocre, that’s when I encourage them and give the OK sign.”

He was talking about compromise. Relying on the implicit rules of the market.

“It doesn’t seem like much, but it’s actually deception and fraud. The illusion that you’re looking down on the actor from above, no longer acting, just a broken fool. That’s quite common on set.”

“Ah- that’s right. We also have to adjust the actor’s condition.”

“But today, I realized there’s a different kind of compromise.”

“Wh, what is that?”

“Kang Woo-jin-ssi. The performance he showed just now… I couldn’t judge that art. It was something I couldn’t carelessly choose whether it was an NG or OK.”

It wasn’t because the acting was lacking, but because it was a performance that made him feel a sense of vastness, that caused an error in judgment. A compromise that he had to make because his mind had gone blank.

Director Kyotaro moved his feet.

-Thud, thud.

Then, he approached Kang Woo-jin and spoke seriously and firmly.

“Because of that scene, the ending of ‘Nakkisaeng’ that reaches the audience will explode.”

It was a fuse.

Back.

The filming on Monday, the 24th, finished at midnight. It was natural to push a little harder since the filming schedule for ‘Nakkisaeng’ was nearing its end.

Then, the next day, the 25th, dawned.

There were only about three days left until the wrap-up of ‘Nakkisaeng.’ But Kang Woo-jin participated in the filming of ‘Nakkisaeng’ on the 25th without any sense of urgency. It was from early morning.

“Action!!”

The atmosphere on set gradually intensified. The spirit of Director Kyotaro and the hundred or so staff members also amplified. It might have been because of Kang Woo-jin’s performance yesterday. Whatever it was, the filming that was underway was the content after ‘Iyota Kiyoshi’s’ homework, and the insert cuts that would fill the gaps in the entire scenario.

Even so, Kang Woo-jin.

‘Woah- crazy!!’

During breaks, he secretly looked at his phone. In Korea, the ‘Island of the Missing’ boom was happening, and news bombs were exploding every day. Not only that, but SNS [Social Networking Services] and YouTube were also dominated by ‘Island of the Missing.’

You could say that the ‘Island of the Missing’ tidal wave had engulfed Korea.

‘It’s going to blow up! This is seriously going to be a huge hit!’

Woo-jin, whose excitement was building up inside, turned cold as a ghost when filming started. That day, the schedule was wrapped up late at night as well.

The standby time for the next day, the 26th, was around noon.

The filming of ‘Nakkisaeng’ was not lazy just because it was nearing its end. Rather, it was several times more urgent. It was hard to realize how time was melting away.

Two days later, Friday, the 28th, dawned.

The location was Tokyo. The time was around 6 a.m. at dawn.

It was the time when many people would usually start their day, but there were already people moving busily. It was the ‘Nakkisaeng’ team. They had gathered at the large set that the ‘Nakkisaeng’ team had been staying at recently. Among them was a space set up for outdoor cuts. The exteriors of each character’s house or shop, etc. The exterior of the set, which was used quite often, was built.

Just by looking at the scale, it was easy to feel that a lot of time had been invested in this set construction.

In the meantime.

“Lighting test!!”

“I’m watching!”

“After the lighting, we’ll change the camera!”

“Director! Please check this side!!”

Hundreds of staff members were busy in their respective parts. Of course, Director Kyotaro, who was wearing a hat pulled down low, was the same. Running around. The set that they were putting effort into setting up was a two-story mansion. It was a corridor-type mansion, and there was an iron staircase attached to the end of the second floor. The exterior walls of the mansion were gray, but there were many black stains. It looked old at a glance.

In the scenario, this mansion was ‘Iyota Kiyoshi’s’ house.

Today, the ‘Nakkisaeng’ team was planning to shoot several cuts, but two were the most important. Kiyoshi’s first encounter with Detective Mochio at this mansion, and the changed ending scene of ‘Nakkisaeng’ that would be shot at a different location.

That was why the eyes of the hundred or so staff members were full of energy.

No, to be precise.

“Haha, it’s come to this day.”

“I know, it feels like we just started filming yesterday.”

“I want a cold beer, let’s have a cold one after we finish the last filming and clean up today.”

“I’m in!”

That was because today was the last day of filming for ‘Nakkisaeng.’

Although the last day of filming for ‘Nakkisaeng’ had arrived, not a single staff member was relaxed. It would have been that way anyway, but especially today, many guests were expected to gather at this site.

“I heard that not only the actors scheduled for filming, but also the actors who have already left are coming, is that true?”

“Ah, yes. Also, people from the film company and the distribution company will come.”

“Wow- everyone’s coming.”

“I heard that writer Akari-nim is also coming?”

“It’s not certain, but Chairman Yoshimura Hideki might also come.”

“Eeeeh?? Really??”

Just from the predictions of the staff members who were talking, it was obvious that the set would be filled with various people today. In fact, at this time, many people were preparing to go to the ‘Nakkisaeng’ set.

Including Kang Woo-jin, who had just woken up.

“Ugh- so tired. But well, today is the last day of filming. But it’s a bit sad.”

Mana Kosaku, who played Detective Mochio and would be acting with Woo-jin, the actors of ‘Nakkisaeng,’ the original author Akari, and even Chairman Hideki. Everyone was looking forward to the end of ‘Nakkisaeng.’

The standby time for today’s filming was 7:30 a.m.

It started with Kang Woo-jin, followed by Mana Kosaku. After the filming of their solo cuts, it was the filming scene that the guests who would be coming today would see.

It would probably be around 10 a.m., although it wasn’t certain.

As time passed.

“Kang Woo-jin-ssi has arrived!!”

Kang Woo-jin arrived at the set as the first actor. His poker face was intense.

“Welcome, Woo-jin-ssi.”

“Hello, Director.”

“How are your condition and mood?”

“The same as usual.”

“I see.”

Inside, he was a little nervous about it being the last day of filming, but the more that was the case, the more solid his concept became. Then, a few tens of minutes later, Kang Woo-jin’s filming began. In the meantime, Mana Kosaku, with his sharp facial features, arrived. Preparation and filming were carried out alternately.

Around 9 a.m.

The actors of ‘Nakkisaeng’ gradually appeared at the set.

“Hello!”

“Ah, welcome, Mifuyu-ssi.”

Several actors, including Uramatsu Mifuyu, who played ‘Horinochi Amie,’ who had already died in the filming. Of course, they had all left because their roles had died. The set, where hundreds of staff members were already running around, gradually began to become several times more crowded. That was because executives from the film company and distribution company were also arriving one after another.

And around 10 a.m.

“Director, as expected, the set is a mess on the day of the wrap-up.”

“You’ve arrived, writer-nim.”

Writer Takikawa Akari appeared. After talking with Director Kyotaro, she greeted the various actors. Among them, her conversation with Kang Woo-jin, who was already no different from Kiyoshi, was the longest.

“Do your best in today’s filming, I’m looking forward to it, even though I’m pretending not to be. Is that too much pressure?”

“No. Please take care of me.”

“Likewise.”

Around this time.

“Eeeh- he, he really came! Over there!”

Some of the lighting team staff, who were setting up the filming, made a fuss and pointed towards the entrance of the set. Soon, the gazes of dozens of staff members around them moved.

“……Chairman Yoshimura Hideki- he really came??”

Chairman Hideki, accompanied by his secretary, was the last guest.

End