I was Mistaken as a Monstrous Genius Actor [EN]: Chapter 311

Inside a large van speeding through downtown LA, Miley Cara, with her chest-length blonde hair, stared intently at Kang Woo-jin across from her before asking in English,

“…It got first place?”

Kang Woo-jin replied nonchalantly.

“Yes.”

It was about the animation ‘My Guy Friend: Remake’ that he had worked on in Japan. The anime, in which Woo-jin participated as the main male voice actor, had taken first place. But for some reason, a hint of bewilderment flickered in Cara’s blue eyes.

‘What is this?’

She was confused about whether to congratulate him or not. It was all because of Woo-jin’s extremely static or dry reaction.

‘Is getting first place not enough? Is there a higher rank above that—no, that doesn’t make sense. Or did it get first place but the viewership ratings are bad?’

Usually, when any work gets first place, shouldn’t you be jumping for joy? At the very least, you should be smiling. But Kang Woo-jin’s face was completely indifferent. It was impossible to gauge his inner thoughts.

‘He’s a character I’ve truly never seen before, and it’s getting worse every time I see him.’

Miley Cara cleared her throat softly.

‘Well, since it’s first place, I guess I should congratulate him, right?’

Having come to a reasonable conclusion, she spoke to Woo-jin, who was looking at his phone. Her tone was tinged with her usual coolness, but her congratulations were sincere.

“Congratulations on getting first place.”

Woo-jin, who raised his head, showed no change in his poker face.

“Thank you.”

“But—are the viewership ratings perhaps worse than expected?”

After staring into Cara’s blue eyes for a moment, Woo-jin first answered inwardly.

‘Worse? What’s with the sudden ‘worse’?? I’m completely satisfied, though?’

He lowered his voice.

“No, I’m satisfied.”

“You don’t look like it at all.”

“It must be your imagination.”

“…If you asked anyone else, they’d say the same thing, you’re too calm!”

“Is that so? I am happy.”

Cara once again realized Kang Woo-jin’s eccentric side. He said he was happy, but the vibe he gave off seemed almost cold. However, Cara also understood Woo-jin’s state to some extent.

‘Right, it’s because he has that level of cynicism that he can control his emotions. Otherwise, it would have been impossible for him to possess so many abilities. Suppressing himself must be a daily routine, even in extreme situations.’

It was mostly true. Beneath the facade, Kang Woo-jin was actually dancing with joy. Of course, only internally.

‘Oh, man—! 1st place??! Crazy, hehe. I almost lost my cool the moment I saw the results!! Anyway, 1st place! Sweet!!’

Of course, he had expected it based on the subspace’s rating, but seeing the results in reality was a different feeling. Regardless of the viewership ratings, ‘My Guy Friend: Remake’ taking first place was another reason for Woo-jin to celebrate.

‘Oh, man, finally something’s popped.’

It was essentially the first time a work Woo-jin had filmed in Japan was released. ‘Strange Gisaeng’ had started earlier, but ‘My Guy Friend: Remake’ was the first to be unveiled. What did the order matter? Whatever it was, it had made a start and taken first place. All that was left was to ride this momentum and push ‘Strange Gisaeng’ forward.

It felt like one of the piled-up tasks was being cleared.

‘Hehe, let’s go!’

Internally, he was dancing, but outwardly, he was as solemn as could be. A few tens of minutes later, the entire team, except for Kang Woo-jin and Cara, settled into a Korean restaurant. It was a fairly famous place even in LA, and as Woo-jin entered the spacious room,

-Vrrrum.

-Vrrrum.

Kang Woo-jin’s phone started vibrating with short bursts. They were congratulatory messages. DMs arriving from Japan, messages from Korea, and so on. Woo-jin wanted to check the reactions in Japan and Korea right away, but he held back. Calming down was the priority right now.

However, Choi Sung-gun, who was sitting next to Woo-jin, and his team were already in a state of excitement.

Among them, Choi Sung-gun, with his ponytail, said with a chuckle,

“Did you see the viewership ratings for ‘My Guy Friend: Remake,’ Woo-jin? It’s 14.8%, 14.8%! No, we beat ‘Magic Rotation’??!”

Choi Sung-gun was almost in a frenzy.

“This is, like, what?? It’s huge. Do you know how long it’s been since an anime in Japan exceeded 10% viewership?”

“I don’t know.”

“At least five years, five years. Maybe even more!”

Forgetting to order, Choi Sung-gun explained the impact of ‘My Guy Friend: Remake’s’ viewership ratings. He was so passionate that even Cara and her foreign team members sitting across from him were surprised. Well, Choi Sung-gun’s reaction wasn’t strange.

Currently, ‘My Guy Friend: Remake’ had achieved record-breaking results in years.

Of course, there had been more impressive results in Japan’s past, but it couldn’t be compared to the current harsh viewership ratings. A competing work, based on a popular manga, had ratings in the 9% range, while ‘My Guy Friend: Remake’ had exceeded 14%.

It was nothing short of a major upset.

Therefore, Choi Sung-gun and Woo-jin’s team members had no intention of hiding their excitement.

“There must have been some promotion from A10, but more than half of these crazy ratings are thanks to you, Woo-jin oppa??!”

“No need to say it! If it weren’t for oppa, we wouldn’t have even gotten 5%, let alone 10%!”

“Wow—Woo-jin oppa, your SNS is blowing up right now! Japanese fans are flocking in!”

Soon, Choi Sung-gun, who was sharing his phone screen with the staff, whispered to Woo-jin.

“Surely, there are quite a few people who watched the anime to criticize you because of these ratings. Like, those who were waiting to see how well you’d do? But so what? Anyway, thanks to that, we got 14.8%, so we can just enjoy it.”

Strictly speaking, it was an ironic situation where enemies had become allies.

“Anyway, since anime airs once a week, we need to keep this momentum going and promote like crazy until next week’s broadcast.”

That meant they had to continue the explosive trend. Some viewers might drop off after the first episode, but with this viewership explosion, there was a high chance that more than twice as many viewers would tune in.

Because they’d be curious.

Kang Woo-jin, trying his best to hide his feelings, replied calmly.

“‘A10 Studio’ will do a good job.”

Then, Woo-jin turned his gaze forward and looked at Cara. Her staff had gathered around her as she looked at her phone, and a slight worry was evident on Miley Cara’s face. They were no longer very interested in Kang Woo-jin, and Cara, noticing Woo-jin’s gaze, brushed her blonde hair and showed him her phone.

“It might be a good day for you, Woo-jin, but there’s been an incident in Hollywood.”

Her phone displayed a breaking news report from a foreign news outlet.

『[Breaking News] Brad Willis Attacked by Knife-Wielding Intruder at Home!』

The title and content were all in English, but it was no problem for Woo-jin.

“That’s dangerous.”

“Yeah, he’s an actor I know well—I should contact him.”

At that moment, the manager with a buzz cut standing next to Cara muttered,

“These kinds of incidents have been increasing lately, haven’t they? Like terrorism. There was one last month, right?”

“Ah—the crazy guy who went to Tom’s house?”

“Yeah. SNS, YouTube, and TikTok are the problem. More and more mentally ill people are appearing. Sigh—it’s always been like this, but I’ll increase the security.”

“Okay, thank you.”

Woo-jin, who had been watching their conversation indifferently, reacted purely in his mind.

‘Terrorism is common? Hollywood is scary—’

Later.

Unlike Kang Woo-jin, who was wrapping up his day with the harshness of LA, Japan and Korea, where morning was just beginning, were seeing the start of the ‘My Guy Friend: Remake’ issue.

Naturally, the reaction in Japan was several times stronger.

Kang Woo-jin confirmed this when he returned to his hotel. Even a quick glance showed that the Japanese media was full of news about the anime.

『Korean Work Original “My Guy Friend: Remake” Takes 1st Place with 14.8% Viewership』

『”My Guy Friend: Remake” Breaks All Expectations to Take 1st Place in Viewership for the Third Quarter of This Year!』

Back in his hotel room, Woo-jin finally dropped his facade and smiled. His mouth stretched from ear to ear.

“Hehe, it’s a mess, it’s a mess.”

Indeed. The Japanese media was relentlessly churning out articles about ‘My Guy Friend: Remake.’

It was quite understandable. An anime had exceeded 10% viewership for the first time in years. Moreover, it wasn’t based on a popular manga or light novel, but ‘My Guy Friend,’ starring a Korean actor, was the main material, so it was bound to cause a stir.

Additionally, it had achieved over 14% viewership.

『Kang Woo-jin Effect? “My Guy Friend: Remake” Achieves Record-Breaking Viewership as a Romantic Comedy in Years!』

It would be strange if the Japanese media wasn’t excited. The public was also in a frenzy over the unexpected results. Both sides were noticeably jumping up and down. If the Japanese media and public were this excited, how would the production company of ‘My Guy Friend: Remake,’ ‘A10 Studio,’ be?

“14.8%??!! Is that not an error?!!”

“There’s no way it’s an error! It’s an official announcement!”

“Oh, my god!! It exceeded 10%???!! Is this real?”

“Hahaha!! It’s 14.8%! That’s a big difference from 10%!”

“F-first, gather everyone! No, wait! Release the articles right now!!”

“That’s right! If we go with this flow, it’s going to be a mess for days! We need to hook them even more!!”

It was more than a festival. The expression ‘going crazy’ was fitting. The director and production team of ‘My Guy Friend: Remake,’ as well as the executives and employees of ‘A10 Studio,’ were all hugging each other and shouting. The 14.8% viewership was the first in years for the entire Japanese anime market and for ‘A10 Studio.’ To be precise, they were judging that such a figure would be absolutely impossible in the future.

The same was true for all the voice actors who participated in ‘My Guy Friend: Remake.’

“It’s a record! A huge record!!”

The entire Japanese anime industry was buzzing about ‘My Guy Friend: Remake.’

“‘Magic Rotation’ is at 9.1%, and ‘Strongest Spy’ is at 8.8%, but ‘My Guy Friend: Remake’ is at 14.8%??!”

“I, I didn’t expect such a big difference.”

“It’s not about the difference! How is it possible that the viewership is 14.8%?!!”

“…It’s been almost 5 or 6 years. I thought it would be difficult for an anime to exceed 10% in the future—but suddenly, out of nowhere.”

“Why did it get such high viewership? Why?”

“The original work was a hit—and I think Kang Woo-jin’s presence is a big factor. Whether they’re fans or have animosity, it’s Kang Woo-jin who brought the public to their TVs.”

Record-breaking.

‘My Guy Friend: Remake’ injected tension into the anime market, which had been quiet for the past few years. From around noon, the number of articles doubled, and content related to ‘My Guy Friend: Remake’ began to spread on SNS, communities, and YouTube.

The flow and momentum gained speed.

The Japanese media seemed unable to shake off the shock throughout the morning, but from this point on, they began to focus on Kang Woo-jin.

『Kang Woo-jin, Who Achieved a 20 Million Viewer Myth in Korea, Is His Power Reaching Japan?』

There was a constant sound of crashing all day.

And by the same night, ‘My Guy Friend: Remake’ had already swept various rankings in Japan. It was number one in viewership for the third quarter anime, as well as number one in buzz on Japan’s three major portal sites, number one in trends on SNS, number one in real-time popular videos on YouTube, and so on.

It had achieved at least five number ones.

Of course, the next most frequently mentioned thing was.

『”My Guy Friend: Remake” Breaks Viewership Records! Kang Woo-jin, Who Has Made Every Work a Success, Is Unleashing His Impact in Japan』

It was Kang Woo-jin’s name.

Morning of the 14th, Korea.

A day had passed since ‘My Guy Friend: Remake’ had turned Japan upside down. But the heat was still not dying down in Japan. Rather, it had amplified several times. As a result, it didn’t take long for that heat to cross over to Korea.

-Crazy, lololol, Kang Woo-jin’s anime got 14% in Japan, lololololol

-Seriously??? Insane, lololol, 14% wtf lololol

-No, no, it’s 14.8%, so it’s almost 15%

-Kyah!!! National pride is surging!!!

It was the first result that Kang Woo-jin, who had gone to Japan alone, had presented to his domestic fans.

-No way!! Kang Woo-jin again?!?!!

However, Korea showed a slightly different reaction than Japan. Rather than being in a frenzy over the success of ‘My Guy Friend: Remake,’ they were excited about Kang Woo-jin’s impact, which had turned the Japanese anime market upside down.

-Damn, lololol, I didn’t think he’d actually beat Magic Rotation, lololol

-I agree, agree, agree, Kang Woo-jin seems to be super popular in Japan than we thought

Including the Korean Wave, movies and dramas were in a slump in Japan. The only remaining heart was animation. But suddenly, Kang Woo-jin had gone to Japan and even conquered anime, so it was natural for them to be excited.

However, it wasn’t just the anime market that Kang Woo-jin had conquered.

The first to confirm this was Choi Nana, the writer of the original ‘Beneficial Evil,’ who was currently in Bangkok for overseas filming.

“Waaah!! How!! Amazing, amazing!!”

She, the original author of ‘My Guy Friend: Remake,’ was also jumping for joy in a foreign country. Sincere congratulations poured in from Song Man-woo PD [Production Director] and other key staff members of ‘Beneficial Evil.’ At that moment, Choi Nana, who had a sudden thought, quickly tapped on her phone screen, adjusting her round glasses.

-Swish.

She accessed the Japanese Oricon chart. It was a site where she could immediately check the Japanese music market, including real-time, daily, weekly, and monthly charts.

“…Huh.”

Choi Nana’s eyes widened as she checked the real-time Oricon chart.

“Woo-jin is number one.”

Because the OP [Opening theme song] sung by Kang Woo-jin had also topped the Oricon chart.

End