I was Mistaken as a Monstrous Genius Actor [EN]: Chapter 3

“Just for fun?” The main PD of ‘Super Actor,’ taking a short break, laughed incredulously in the hallway. The reason was simple. The short-haired woman had just heard something shocking from Kang Woo-jin over the phone.

‘He did *that* level of acting… just for fun? How high is his self-esteem?’

Considering it was just for fun, Kang Woo-jin’s acting a few hours ago was remarkably high-level. Jaw-dropping. Woo-jin, who had performed so nonchalantly, had coolly gone home and was now saying it was just for fun in a rather indifferent tone.

‘…He definitely has an unusual vibe.’

Anyway, the main PD replied into the phone, maintaining a faint smile.

“Haha, Mr. Woo-jin. Just for fun? You’re too honest, aren’t you?”

Soon, Kang Woo-jin’s firm yet restrained voice was heard over the phone.

“It can’t be helped. It’s the truth. So, you can just forget about it.”

Forget? How could she forget that? At this point, the main PD was certain.

‘Right. He really has no interest in today’s events. His acting feels like nothing more or less than a hobby.’

Then, a question arose.

‘But usually, if someone has that much skill, wouldn’t they naturally want to become famous? He’s tall and has a good look.’

Why was he letting such divine acting skills go to waste? Her curiosity grew, but it seemed hard to understand with common sense. At least, in the main PD’s opinion. Whatever the case, Kang Woo-jin had refused to appear on ‘Super Actor.’

It was quite a regrettable outcome for the main PD.

She knew that if he were to be on the broadcast, Kang Woo-jin would probably attract a lot of attention. However, she couldn’t use the footage without his consent.

Therefore, the main PD.

“Hoo-”

While exhaling a sigh of regret, she spoke again.

“Just for fun. Yes, I understand. But wouldn’t it be a real waste?”

“Not at all.”

Judging by his firm voice, he didn’t seem like he would change his mind at all.

“Okay. I understand. Then I’ll take care of discarding Mr. Woo-jin’s footage.”

After a brief pause, about five seconds, Woo-jin’s low voice was heard again over the phone.

“But… ahem. Could I get that one scene?”

“That one scene? Ah—the acting? It’ll be difficult to get the footage from the main camera, but you can get the video for YouTube shorts. That’s filmed with a phone for shooting.”

“Ah-”

“The angle, feel, and quality will obviously be different from the main camera, but if it’s just for confirmation, it should be sufficient.”

“I understand. Then please send it to me.”

“For personal use?”

“Something like that.”

Upon hearing the answer, the main PD nodded, brushing her short hair back.

“Okay. Then send me your number, and I’ll send it to you via text.”

“Thank you.”

“It’ll be sent by tonight at the earliest, or tomorrow at the latest.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. Then.”

“Okay, I’ll hang up.”

-Click.

Just as the main PD was putting down her phone after finishing the call with Kang Woo-jin.

“Hey.”

A man’s voice suddenly cut in from behind her. Startled, the main PD, who had been leaning against the hallway wall, jumped. Then, she turned her head back.

“Ah, senior! Give me some warning, you scared me! You’re like a ninja!”

The man’s voice belonged to Song Man-woo PD, one of the judges. He stroked his beard and asked.

“That call, was it that friend from this morning? The design major.”

The ‘Super Actor’ main PD gave a slightly bitter smile.

“Yes, it was.”

“Is he going to the second round?”

“No, he’s out. He doesn’t seem interested at all.”

“…So, he really just came along with his friend? If that’s the case, there was no need to show his acting, was there?”

At the question, the main PD shrugged as if to say, ‘How should I know?’

“I asked him too. But he said it was just for fun.”

“Just for fun? He just turned this place upside down for fun?”

“Yeah—that’s what he said.”

After staring at the main PD’s face for a moment, Song Man-woo PD suddenly burst into loud laughter.

“That guy’s a nutcase.”

“I’m telling you, right? It’s been a while since I’ve seen such an oddball.”

“But I understand. When a person reaches a certain high level, they sometimes want to look back.”

“I can’t believe he just suddenly appeared… What on earth is his real identity?”

At this point, Song Man-woo PD’s expression, which had been without an answer, became serious. Then, he took out his phone.

“Did you get his number?”

He looked like he had made up his mind.

An hour later, at Kang Woo-jin’s studio apartment.

After the call with the ‘Super Actor’ PD, Kim Dae-young had many questions, but Kang Woo-jin brushed them off. There was no need to broadcast the humiliation from the morning. He planned to bury it as a dark history of his own.

Anyway, Woo-jin, having arrived at his studio apartment, immediately collapsed. Still wearing his padded jacket. He tossed the scripts and scenarios he had received carelessly. Feeling full and comfortable, drowsiness washed over him.

However.

“Hoo—I should finish what I was doing earlier.”

He had something to do, so he forced himself to get up. Then, he picked up two of the script books he had thrown down. The script books were different colors. Light blue and dark purple. Naturally, both book covers had titles printed on them.

-‘Elegant Eldest Daughter’ Part 1.

-‘Gangster Prosecutor’ Part 1.

Both scripts were Part 1. At this point, Woo-jin, looking down at the script books, tilted his head slightly. The titles seemed somewhat familiar.

“They sound… familiar.”

Soon, Woo-jin took out his phone from his padded jacket pocket and started searching. As a result, both of these script book works had already finished airing. ‘Elegant Eldest Daughter’ was last year, and ‘Gangster Prosecutor’ was two years ago. The broadcasting stations were different, but they were both terrestrial channels [major national TV networks].

Then.

-Swish.

After roughly finishing his search, Woo-jin picked up the ‘Gangster Prosecutor’ script book. He had already updated the ‘Elegant Eldest Daughter’ script book at Kim Dae-young’s place earlier. This time, it was ‘Gangster Prosecutor’s’ turn.

“It feels a bit weird going in again.”

Kang Woo-jin stared at the black square that had appeared next to the script book for a moment. It was still swirling. The energy was unsettling, but Woo-jin let out a small sigh.

-Poke!

He poked the black square with his index finger. The tingling sensation was immediately felt. He was getting used to this feeling after doing it a few times.

And.

“……”

Kang Woo-jin, with his mouth closed, was now staring at the endless darkness. He had entered the sub-space. However, there was no need to be surprised anymore.

It was his third entry.

Anyway, Woo-jin turned his body to check behind him. A white square floating at chest height was visible. And as expected.

“Three.”

The two white squares had increased to three. Kang Woo-jin slowly approached the white squares, each the size of an A4 sheet of paper. He stopped about a step away.

“Let’s see-”

He checked the letters on the added white square. Starting with the side script.

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

·

·

·

He quickly skipped it since he had seen it in the morning. Next was ‘Elegant Eldest Daughter’s’ turn.

-[2/Script (Title: Elegant Eldest Daughter Part 1), E Grade]

-[*This is a very well-made drama script. 100% reading is possible.]

It was definitely different from the side script. Then, Woo-jin checked the third one.

-[3/Script (Title: Gangster Prosecutor Part 1), C Grade]

-[*This is a very well-made drama script. 100% reading is possible.]

Having checked up to this point, Woo-jin crossed his arms.

“The side script is 10%, and these are 100% readable…”

Then, Kang Woo-jin tilted his head, noticing something in the letters.

“But what do these grades mean?”

Clearly, the three white squares were divided into grades. The side script was F grade, ‘Elegant Eldest Daughter’ was E grade, and ‘Gangster Prosecutor’ was C grade. Well, the side script was just a side script, so it could be judged as F grade.

“What did they use to grade the other two?”

It didn’t seem to be based on completion. Both were said to be very well-made. Moreover, both works had already finished airing in the past.

At this point.

“Ah, maybe.”

Something suddenly occurred to Woo-jin, and he quickly opened his mouth.

“Exit.”

A large grayness covered him, and Kang Woo-jin opened his eyes again in his studio apartment.

He was used to it, so he didn’t even groan this time.

“Humans are creatures of adaptation.”

He picked up his phone again. He searched for ‘Elegant Eldest Daughter’ and ‘Gangster Prosecutor’ again. The only thing Kang Woo-jin checked in both works was one thing.

The viewership ratings.

The results quickly appeared before Woo-jin’s eyes.

-‘Elegant Eldest Daughter’ / Final viewership rating 2.7%

-‘Gangster Prosecutor’ / Final viewership rating 7.1%

The viewership ratings of the two works were quite different. After reading a few articles, there were many reviews that ‘Elegant Eldest Daughter’ had flopped, while ‘Gangster Prosecutor’ felt just average. Kang Woo-jin stroked his chin as he skimmed through these search results.

“‘Elegant Eldest Daughter’ is a flop, so E grade, and ‘Gangster Prosecutor’ is average, so C grade? Could it be that… the grades are a measure of success?”

Or a gauge of the work’s performance. It wasn’t clear, but the nuance was roughly correct. The grades and viewership ratings matched up.

However, a question arose here.

‘…Then what about scripts or scenarios that haven’t been released to the world yet?’

These script books had already finished airing, so the results were out, but there were also scripts that were in preparation or had been scrapped before even starting.

If Kang Woo-jin were to obtain those?

‘Would those also appear?’

It needed to be confirmed, but the only answer that came to mind was one.

“Can I… see the value of a script or scenario in advance?”

Being able to see the performance of a work before it’s even produced. Huh? Really? If that’s right, isn’t this amazing? Woo-jin’s eyes changed as he muttered to himself.

-Swish.

He quickly moved his hand. This time, what Woo-jin picked up was not a script book but a stack of papers. A movie scenario from what he received from Kim Dae-young. Since it was a different industry, it could be compared to drama scripts. The title ‘Detective Agency’ was printed on the cover of the stack of papers.

Anyway, Woo-jin was about to poke the black square that had appeared next to the scenario, but he stopped abruptly.

“Ah, but can’t I go in with my phone?”

It would be more convenient if he could enter the sub-space with his belongings. So, Woo-jin held his phone in his left hand and poked the black square with his index finger.

-Poke!

Thus, Woo-jin re-entered the completely dark sub-space. The problem was.

“Tsk, it doesn’t work.”

The phone he was holding in his left hand was rejected. Kang Woo-jin was empty-handed now. It meant that belongings could not be brought into this sub-space. Disappointed, Woo-jin gave up and turned his body to check the white squares.

As expected, they had increased to four.

Soon, Woo-jin approached and read the letters on the fourth white square.

-[4/Scenario (Title: Detective Agency), B Grade]

-[*This is a very well-made movie scenario. 100% reading is possible.]

This movie scenario was B grade. Kang Woo-jin was slightly surprised for a moment.

“B? B grade is the highest grade among the ones that have appeared.”

Then, was it a work that had a great performance? Number of viewers or something?

However, Kang Woo-jin knew nothing about the entertainment industry. Thanks to that, Woo-jin, who had become serious, quickly recited ‘Exit’ and, as soon as he returned to his studio apartment, called his friend Kim Dae-young. It was to ask about the movie ‘Detective Agency.’

“Uh—why?”

Kim Dae-young’s voice was hoarse, as if he had been sleeping. Regardless, Woo-jin immediately asked the main point.

“Hey, among the things you gave me, there’s a movie scenario, right? Is that a successful movie?”

“Ah, ‘Detective Agency’? Successful or not, it hasn’t even started production yet?”

“It hasn’t started production?”

“Yeah. I don’t know exactly. I got it from someone in the theater club last week.”

“Then, is it going to be produced and released in theaters?”

“No? It can’t be released. It’s not commercial, it’s a short film, a short one. You know, like independent or art films. What was it—the director was unknown, I think?”

The point that Kang Woo-jin focused on here was.

‘A short film? It hasn’t even started production yet?’

That it was a short film and that it was before production. At this time, Kim Dae-young added an explanation over the phone.

“But that ‘Detective Agency’ won’t be produced, you know? Even commercial movies have scenarios that get scrapped, and that’s a short film, so the chances are even lower.”

“…It can’t be released in theaters? Then, if this short film or whatever is successful, what would happen?”

“Hey, you’re suddenly very interested? Well, there’s only one way a short film can be successful. Since it can’t be released, it would win awards at contests, award ceremonies, or film festivals? If it gets popular, it might get remade.”

“Ah—like the Blue Dragon Film Awards? Something like that?”

“Right. Or there are specialized short film festivals or overseas ones. But there are hardly any precedents for overseas ones.”

As soon as he heard the answer, Kang Woo-jin replied.

“Okay, hang up for now.”

He hung up the phone immediately. He didn’t fully understand everything Kim Dae-young had said, but there was one thing that was certain.

‘A movie that hasn’t even been produced is B grade.’

He didn’t know what kind of performance B grade was, but the possibility that he could see the performance of a work in advance had become very high.

“……”

After thinking about something for a moment, Woo-jin moved his hand in about three minutes. He picked up the ‘Elegant Eldest Daughter’ script book.

“I don’t know, I’ll figure it out as I go.”

Then, Woo-jin began to read the ‘Elegant Eldest Daughter’ script book.

-Flip.

The reason was simple. He needed to know the contents of the script or scenario clearly. That way, he could choose a role with peace of mind.

-Flip, flip.

Moreover.

“I’m done with getting stabbed to death without knowing anything.”

He wanted to avoid dying suddenly.

Late at night on the same day, at the Art Center of the Mokdong SBC building.

The first preliminary round of ‘Super Actor’ had finished filming, and it was past 10 PM. All the participants who had filled the Art Center had disappeared. Now, only dozens of staff members were left, cleaning up.

Everyone was exhausted, as the schedule for the day had been intense.

Of course, the three judges who had evaluated hundreds of participants were the same. Among them, Song Man-woo PD with the beard moved the fastest. He suddenly stood up from the judges’ table, which was a long desk. His expression was quite urgent.

“Everyone, you’ve worked hard.”

Soon, Song Man-woo PD, after giving a casual greeting to the surrounding staff, began to move his feet.

“Huh?? PD-nim! Are you leaving already?”

Top actress Hong Hye-yeon, who had been slumped over and resting until just now, suddenly raised her head. Her long, straight hair fluttered.

“Aren’t you going to the after-party? They said they’re having beef?”

Although he couldn’t resist beef, Song Man-woo PD shook his hand as if he didn’t have time for that.

“No, I’m good. I’m going to see writer Park right away.”

“…Writer Park-nim? At this hour?”

At this moment, Hong Hye-yeon had an expression as if she had suddenly realized something. Then, she chased after Song Man-woo PD, who was walking away, and grabbed his arm.

“I’ll go too.”

“…What? Aren’t you busy?”

“I am busy. But I’m free today.”

“Ha—I’m going for work. Not to drink. It’s related to our work.”

‘Our work’ naturally included top actress Hong Hye-yeon as well.

-Swish.

Hong Hye-yeon, who had already moved next to Song Man-woo PD, smiled with her eyes and replied.

“I saw you getting that video from the ‘Super Actor’ PD earlier.”

At this time, the man, no, the monster, who filled the minds of Hong Hye-yeon and Song Man-woo PD was the same person.

“You’re going to show it to the writer, right?”

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