I was Mistaken as a Monstrous Genius Actor [EN]: Chapter 354

I’m going to die. I’m really going to die. Kang Woo-jin, or ‘Juan Gonzalez,’ was running like his life depended on it. The muddy ground, the huge trees blocking his view—there were many obstacles, but none of that mattered now.

“Ugh! Hah! Keeeugh!!”

It was only natural, having witnessed dinosaurs in the flesh, and with that Tyrannosaurus right behind him. He had long forgotten about the camera he had brought. It was probably buried somewhere on the ground, but surviving was his priority now.

-Thwack!

The scorching heat was still there, and the rough grass scratched Woo-jin’s arms and face. But Kang Woo-jin didn’t care; he just kept running forward.

Run, run, even if your bones break, don’t stop your feet.

And then.

-Thump! Thump!! Thump!!!

The ground continued to shake behind him. Woo-jin, running like crazy, glanced back.

“Hwaaaaaaak!!!”

-Kooong!!!!

The ground behind him caved in, big enough to bury ten people. A huge footprint was imprinted there. It was his, the Tyrannosaurus’s. The magnificent creature, snapping tall trees like toothpicks, was chasing closely behind. Right now, Kang Woo-jin was just prey. No, to that Tyrannosaurus, he was less than a fly.

-Kaaaaaaaak!!!!

The creature with rows of sharp teeth roared, its mouth wide open. The whole world seemed to shake. Whether it was angry or excited, there was no way to know. The pain was so intense that his ears felt like they were bleeding. Water streamed from Woo-jin’s eyes, nose, and mouth. His legs, running non-stop, were also tingling.

It was reality itself.

-Crack!!!

A crashing sound came from behind Kang Woo-jin as he ran. The creature had tried to bite him with its wide-open mouth, but Woo-jin didn’t notice because he was running. Luckily, it missed.

At that moment.

-Thud!

Woo-jin’s foot made a mistake.

He tripped on the low-lying grass tangled on the ground. His body, already running for his life, collapsed helplessly. With a thud, he slammed his face into the muddy ground. Moisture spread all over his body. He might have peed a little, but he had no time to care.

-Hoo-hoo-oooh.

He felt hot air on his back. The Tyrannosaurus had put its nose to Kang Woo-jin’s back, sniffing him.

It was over.

“…Shit, damn it.”

Now, he was just going to be chewed to pieces by that ridiculously magnificent creature. To be chewed to death by a Tyrannosaurus? Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. Who else in the world could do that? Kang Woo-jin was gradually going insane.

-Thump!!!

As the creature took a step, Kang Woo-jin’s body, lying on the ground, was lifted and then slammed back down. His face was already covered in mud. Well, if he was going to die anyway, he might as well get a good look at that thing’s face. Half giving up on life, he turned his sprawled body around.

“!!!”

His eyes widened. The reason was simple. The creature’s face, the size of a house, was right in front of him. Yellowish, bloody teeth, each twice the size of a human, were visible. With a ‘hoo-oo-oooh’ sound, the creature sniffed Woo-jin again. He felt like he was going to be sucked into those huge nostrils. Then, the Tyrannosaurus opened its mouth wide.

Kang Woo-jin’s body trembled even more intensely.

-Bang bang!! Tatatatatang!!

Suddenly, intense gunshots rang out. Soon, the creature, which had opened its mouth wide, turned its head in annoyance.

-Gyaaaaaaaaaaaak!!!!

But the gunshots didn’t stop, and a jeep screeched to a halt in front of Kang Woo-jin, who had fallen over. It had no roof. Whatever it was, he heard a person’s voice. It was English.

“Hey!!! Get in quick!! Right now!!”

Woo-jin, whose face was already covered in mud, quickly raised his head. A muscular man was reaching out his hand. Instinctively, Kang Woo-jin got up with all his strength and got into the car. Three men who had been shooting at the creature also quickly got into the jeep.

-Screeeeeech!

The car, making a loud tire noise, sped off.

-Thump! Thump!! Thump!!! Thump!!!!

Of course, the creature was chasing fiercely. Kang Woo-jin shouted to the muscular man driving.

“Step on it!! Step on it more!!!”

“Shut up!!”

“It’s right behind us! It’s right behind us!!”

“Shut up!!”

At that moment, the jeep roared and sped out of the forest. Soon, a vast prairie unfolded. And Woo-jin, looking at the prairie, was stunned.

-Uooooh!

-Caw! Caw!!

-Kaaaaaak!!

Whether it was the sky or the ground.

“…Oh my god.”

It was full of dinosaurs.

Inside the black van.

Kang Woo-jin, who had just been in a world full of dinosaurs, returned to his reality.

“…”

His face was stern. As expected, nothing had changed here. The van was driving on the road, and the dozen or so team members were busy with their own tasks. Who could have imagined it?

‘Crazy, that was awesome.’

Just now, Woo-jin had been in the age of dinosaurs. He was currently extremely excited, but he somehow managed to remember his persona. Then, he checked his physical condition. Woo-jin’s hands, holding the ‘Jurassic Land 4’ script, were tingling.

Of course, they would be. Just a moment ago, a Tyrannosaurus had been right in front of him.

-Swish.

Silent Kang Woo-jin subtly glanced back. Fortunately, there were no dinosaurs in sight. It was that much of a crazy, vivid reading (experience). He could still feel the hard skin of the triceratops he had touched.

‘Damn. So much fun.’

Giant movie screens? VR? Those were child’s play compared to the subspace. Woo-jin was quite satisfied. He had seen, felt, and touched real dinosaurs, not something made or a model. It was an experience that only Kang Woo-jin could have in the entire world.

‘Even if they make this movie, it’ll all be CG [Computer-Generated Imagery].’

Somehow, the reading (experience) of ‘Jurassic Land 4’ felt like going to an amusement park for Kang Woo-jin. Other movies had some fatigue, but ‘Jurassic Land 4’ was thrilling. This must be because he received a Hollywood script, not a domestic one.

Thanks to the enormous scale.

Kang Woo-jin, smirking inwardly, muttered.

‘If this is the case, I definitely have to go to space too.’

There were many things he couldn’t resist. Including dinosaurs, space, the deep sea, and so on. Oh yeah, fantasy or superhero movies wouldn’t be bad either. Woo-jin, thinking of the many hit Hollywood movies, changed the subject of his thoughts.

Imprinting Spanish after French.

He might not need it right now.

‘If I learn it, I’ll 100% use it someday, so whatever it is, it’s a win for me.’

There was no harm in imprinting languages from all over the world. That’s why he chose the character ‘Juan Gonzalez.’ Well, that was that. Woo-jin lowered his gaze to the ‘Jurassic Land 4’ script. No matter how much he looked at it, the thought of ‘Why?’ wouldn’t go away.

It was a B-grade movie with an ambiguous rating, and the role they were offering was a supporting one.

‘Even if they’re greedy for me, there’s no reason for me to do it, right??’

Then, Kang Woo-jin chuckled to himself.

‘Wow, I’ve grown a lot.’

He was talking about his influence. He was choosing Hollywood movies to his liking. Anyway, Kang Woo-jin’s interest in ‘Jurassic Land 4’ had waned. He had gained something from the Spanish, and if he had this script, he could see dinosaurs anytime he wanted, like going on a trip.

That was it.

There was no need to be obsessed or anxious. Today wasn’t the only day, and there were plenty of projects in the world.

‘Hehe, maybe I’ve gained some experience and composure as an actor.’

Right now, it was the time to gauge the situation while dealing with a hellish schedule and things to do. However, he had to check the ratings of the other four projects besides ‘Jurassic Land 4.’ Two French movies, one Hollywood movie, and one American drama. Soon, Kang Woo-jin put down the ‘Jurassic Land 4’ script and picked up another one.

-Thud!

His real time stopped again.

Two days later, Wednesday the 20th. Tokyo, Japan.

The time was around 11 AM. A large movie theater near Tokyo Station. Despite it being a late morning on a weekday, the largest theater in the movie theater was crowded. The over 500 seats were filled with audience members. However, the main purpose of this theater was not movie screenings. A big event was scheduled.

The theme song in Japanese was being displayed on the giant screen in front of hundreds of audience members.

-[‘The Bizarre Sacrifice of a Stranger’ Audience Screening]

It was an audience screening of ‘Bizarre Stranger,’ which included the general public. Even though the official release was less than a week away, ‘Bizarre Stranger’ did not delay its promotion and marketing until the very end. Rather, it accelerated it. With the reporters who attended the press screening already going crazy with articles, the attention ‘Bizarre Stranger’ was receiving due to Kang Woo-jin’s Cannes ‘Best Actor’ issue, which had recently turned the world upside down, was at a nuclear level.

Anyway, the 500 people who attended the audience screening of ‘Bizarre Stranger’ were diverse.

There were people who were drawn by the hype, people who came without much thought after winning SNS [Social Networking Service] events, hardcore fans of the original ‘Bizarre Stranger’ novel, people who were against ‘Bizarre Stranger,’ Kang Woo-jin’s Japanese fans, fans of Japanese actors, and so on.

Since there were 500 audience members with completely different thoughts, the conversations before the screening were also very different.

“Oh, I’m excited, how did Kang Woo-jin act?”

“He won the Best Actor award at Cannes. Surely, he’ll easily surpass our expectations? I’m even more curious because it’s a completely different character from ‘My Best Friend’.”

“I reviewed the original novel of ‘Bizarre Stranger’ before watching the movie… The reporters were going crazy, saying it’s a betrayal of the original fans and stuff.”

“Oh, I saw that too.”

Woo-jin’s fans were full of anticipation, but the hardcore fans of ‘Bizarre Stranger’ and those who were against it were full of complaints.

“How much did they ruin the original? I saw a few articles and they said it was shocking. Ugh, annoying.”

“Why are they even releasing this?”

“It’s probably because that Kang Woo-jin made a name for himself at Cannes that they’re releasing it more.”

“Kang Woo-jin, Kang Woo-jin. I’m tired of it. In the first place, how can the lead of ‘Bizarre Stranger’ be a Korean actor?”

“And yet, Kang Woo-jin didn’t even show his face once during the promotion period for ‘Bizarre Stranger’?”

“I guess he’s a global star now.”

“Hmph, I admit that his level has suddenly risen a lot, but he’s too irresponsible.”

Hundreds of audience members were constantly buzzing while waiting for the screening of ‘Bizarre Stranger.’ They were noisy with different words, but one thing they had in common was Kang Woo-jin.

“They said there would be a stage greeting by the ‘Bizarre Stranger’ actors today, right? I guess Kang Woo-jin isn’t coming either?”

“Would he come here when he’s a global star?”

At that moment.

-Swoosh.

The lights in the large theater dimmed.

-♬♪

‘Bizarre Stranger’ began to play in earnest. The expressions of the 500 audience members changed from moment to moment. Their eyes widened, their brows furrowed, they were surprised, shocked, creeped out, or covered their mouths. There was not a single calm reaction during the over two-hour running time.

“…”

“…”

‘Iyota Kiyoshi,’ that is, Kang Woo-jin’s close-up face, appeared on the giant screen, and ‘Bizarre Stranger’ came to an end. It denied cause and effect as if it were nothing, and the ending was completely different from the original ‘Bizarre Stranger.’ Soon, most of the hundreds of audience members were in an uproar.

“…Is this for real? What the heck was that?”

In particular, the excitement of the hardcore fans of the original ‘Bizarre Stranger’ was soaring.

“No! That’s not ‘Bizarre Stranger’!”

“It’s absurd, that movie is weird!”

The large theater with the lights on began to get noisy. About a hundred people who came without much thought or were fans of Kang Woo-jin were quiet, but the remaining 300 or so audience members were freaking out. Around this time, several burly guards appeared in front of the giant screen at the front of the theater.

-Swish.

Behind them followed Director Kyotaro, with his gray hair, and the Japanese actors. The main actors other than Mana Kosaku and Uramatsu Mihuyu came out, but Kang Woo-jin was not there. It seemed he was not planning to come in the first place. Soon, Director Kyotaro and all the Japanese actors stood in a line in front of the 500 audience members. Director Kyotaro looked at the hundreds of audience members in front of him and let out a low groan.

“Hmm.”

The expressions were quite bleak. But even if the atmosphere was not good, there was no reason to avoid it.

At least that was what Director Kyotaro and the Japanese actors of ‘Bizarre Stranger’ thought. Everyone could have different views on a movie, and it was their role to endure it. Furthermore, running away from here would be the same as denying the entire movie ‘Bizarre Stranger.’

Thus began the stage greeting of the ‘Bizarre Stranger’ screening.

The first to hold the microphone was the Japanese master, Director Tanoguchi Kyotaro.

“Hello, I am Tanoguchi Kyotaro, the director of ‘Bizarre Stranger’.”

As soon as his greeting ended, a woman in the center of the audience stood up and shouted aggressively.

“Did you call that a movie??! You completely crushed the original!!”

The excited woman continued to yell but was soon politely dragged out by two guards. But the atmosphere became even more hostile. The woman who was dragged out was the starting point, and the remaining hardcore fans of the original ‘Bizarre Stranger’ began to shout one by one.

“That’s not ‘Bizarre Stranger’!!”

“Why did you change the ending as you pleased?!!”

“There would have been no problem if you had done it as the original! What is this!”

“No! You can’t release this!”

It was getting more and more intense. Some audience members were leaving their seats. Regardless, the hardcore fans’ voices grew louder, and the guards and movie theater staff gestured to Director Kyotaro and the ‘Bizarre Stranger’ actors to retreat for now.

At that moment.

“Ah.”

“…Huh?”

“Over there.”

Most of the hundreds of audience members who had been shouting suddenly stopped their screams. Then, they all looked at the entrance of the screen in front. Interesting faces. The hundreds of audience members who had been red-faced just before opened their mouths slightly or widened their eyes. Director Kyotaro, who was puzzled by the sudden silence, and.

“Hmm?”

The Japanese actors of ‘Bizarre Stranger’ turned their heads to where the audience members were looking. A man in a black trench coat with a cynical aura was walking in. Soon, Director Kyotaro and the Japanese actors also flinched and were surprised.

“W, Woo-jin-ssi?”

Kang Woo-jin had suddenly appeared. On the other hand, Woo-jin, who was walking indifferently, gave a small greeting to the dumbfounded Director Kyotaro and then.

“Director.”

He held out his hand. He was asking for the microphone. Director Kyotaro, in a daze, handed over the microphone. Then, Kang Woo-jin greeted the hundreds of audience members.

“Hello, I am Kang Woo-jin, who played ‘Iyota Kiyoshi’ in ‘Bizarre Stranger’.”

A calm tone with fluent Japanese.

But the hundreds of audience members who had been freaking out just before could not open their mouths.

“…”

“…”

“…”

The force and aura of ‘The Man of Cannes,’ Kang Woo-jin.

“…Wow, Kang Woo-jin, he is different.”

He had silenced everyone.

End