I was Mistaken as a Monstrous Genius Actor [EN]: Chapter 420

Kang Woo-jin, watching Choi Seong-geon with a deep smile, remained unfazed. His cynical expression didn’t change much. Sweat trickled down his forehead.

“······”

It was already the end of May. With June just around the corner, the weather had become much hotter. Woo-jin slowly nodded and replied to Choi Seong-geon, his voice as calm as ever.

“The first day of filming has been confirmed?”

“Yes.”

Choi Seong-geon, with a smile, placed his hand on Kang Woo-jin’s shoulder and gave a thumbs up.

“The second week of June. To be exact, June 11th. Well, there might be a day or two difference depending on the circumstances, but if there are no issues, the filming will start on the 11th.”

‘The 11th, huh? It’s really just a few days away.’ Though outwardly stoic, Woo-jin felt a slight tension rising within him.

He always felt this way with every project. The preparation process, including the script reading, was worlds apart from the actual filming. It was like the preparation was loading a gun, and the first day of filming was the moment it was fired at the world.

‘Moreover, this time it’s Hollywood, isn’t it?’

That wasn’t all. Having set numerous firsts and records, Kang Woo-jin had become the first Asian actor to land a lead role in Hollywood. This was the starting point. Today was May 27th. June 11th meant there were about two weeks left. It was long if you thought it was long, and short if you thought it was short. No, considering Kang Woo-jin’s hellish schedule, it was quite tight.

With a moderate sense of tension, Kang Woo-jin took off his suit jacket.

The heat was intense.

-Swish.

Then, starting with the smiling Choi Seong-geon, he scanned the faces of his team members. Everyone had expressions full of anticipation.

Woo-jin then turned his body. He could see the filming site for ‘Beneficial Evil’ Part 2. It was a dark night, but the installed lights were dazzlingly bright. Around it, insects were gradually gathering, about a hundred staff members were busy with the cleanup, and the bearded Song Man-woo PD was talking with the assistant directors about tomorrow’s filming. Everyone was wearing short sleeves in the warmer weather.

Kang Woo-jin, having watched the scene for a moment, felt a slight sense of regret.

‘······This is the end of filming in Korea, huh? What’s with this feeling? I’m getting a little sentimental.’

His face, always firm with his concept, remained unchanged, but his heart softened slightly. It was because once he went to LA, he wouldn’t be returning to Korea for a long time. ‘How did I get here?’ As various thoughts crossed his mind, Choi Seong-geon came up beside him. He looked straight ahead, just like Kang Woo-jin, and opened his mouth.

“Why? Are you feeling a bit sentimental? Because you’re thinking about living only in Hollywood now?”

‘What is this? He could set up a fortune-telling mat.’ Woo-jin, startled inwardly, tried to answer nonchalantly.

“No. I just feel like time is passing quickly.”

“Haha, it is. It’s already been three years since I first saw you, right? It feels like ‘Profiler Han-ryang’ was just yesterday. It’s even more so because Song PD is over there.”

Around this time, whether he noticed their gaze or not, Song Man-woo PD, who had been talking with the staff, came running over. Wearing a black short-sleeved shirt and a hat pulled low, he immediately started talking about tomorrow’s filming.

“Let’s be on standby from noon tomorrow.”

“Understood.”

After Woo-jin’s dry reply, Choi Seong-geon tilted his head.

“Hmm? But it’s starting a bit late?”

“Ah—there’s an interview shoot in the morning for Netflix. The Netflix headquarters requested it regarding the ‘Emmy Awards.’ But did something happen? Why do you two look so serious?”

The answer came concisely from Kang Woo-jin.

“The first day of filming for ‘Pierrot: The Birth of a Villain’ has been set.”

Song Man-woo PD paused for a moment, then widened his eyes in excitement.

“Oh! Oh!! Really?? When?”

“June 11th.”

“The 11th? Wait, if it’s the 11th—that’s two weeks away? Oh my, it’s a bit tight. Isn’t Woo-jin getting too worn out? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

“Well, I know you’re fine. But you still need to take care of your health. If you collapse, Woo-jin… oh, how many projects would be put on hold?”

Song Man-woo PD, expressing how terrifying that thought was, suddenly.

-Swish.

Folded his fingers and started calculating something. His face suddenly turned serious.

“We were planning to wrap up around June 7th—let’s try to move that up a bit, even by a few days. If we push a bit, shortening the time is no big deal.”

“There’s no need to go that far.”

“No, no.”

Song Man-woo PD, whose smile was gradually spreading, called an assistant director and said,

“Our ‘World Star’ is about to make his first foray, so he needs to be in good condition, don’t you think, CEO Choi?”

“Hahaha, I’d be grateful if you would.”

“Let’s try to finish on the 4th or 5th at the latest.”

Having made a decision, Song Man-woo PD looked at the unfazed Kang Woo-jin and grinned.

“Let’s make those Hollywood guys throw up from shock.”

Meanwhile, in LA.

Unlike Korea, where it was past midnight, it was early morning in LA. The roads were packed with cars, and the honking was deafening. Cafes, bagel shops, and even the sidewalks were full of foreigners. The subway was the same.

Inside a subway in LA, which sometimes looked like a gang’s hideout.

“······Hmm.”

An old man with a familiar face entered. It was Director Ahn Ga-bok, dressed in a casual short-sleeved shirt and comfortable jeans. Of course, he wasn’t alone. There were at least a dozen foreigners around him. They were the key staff of ‘Pierrot: The Birth of a Villain.’ The reason why they, including Director Ahn Ga-bok, were in the subway was simple.

‘A subway scene is better shot on location than in a set.’

As Director Ahn Ga-bok had just muttered, they were out location scouting for ‘Pierrot: The Birth of a Villain.’ This was the last one on the schedule. Actually, the location scouting had been completed a while ago, but Director Ahn Ga-bok had requested an additional schedule.

-Screech!

The subway arrived just in time.

However, Director Ahn Ga-bok and the foreign key staff didn’t board. Ahn Ga-bok stroked his chin, taking in the entire platform, and some of the key staff were busy taking pictures of various spots. At this point, several things caught Director Ahn Ga-bok’s eye. Graffiti scrawled on the walls, homeless people settled in corners or on benches, people with peculiar appearances, and a man playing the guitar, who might have been a trainee or something.

-♬♪

But the guitar sound sounded different to Director Ahn Ga-bok.

‘Music is playing.’

One of the many OSTs [Original Soundtracks] of ‘Pierrot: The Birth of a Villain’ lingered in his ears. Then, police officers appeared on the platform to control the homeless, and Ahn Ga-bok’s eyes became like a camera angle. Kang Woo-jin appeared. Or rather, to be precise.

‘A dancing ‘Joker,’ chased by the police.’

It was the ‘Joker.’

The scene of two police officers controlling the homeless looked to Director Ahn Ga-bok like a scene where the ‘Joker’ was tap-dancing and mocking the police. The angry police officers, with their heavy bodies, waddled after Kang Woo-jin, or the ‘Joker,’ but it was no use. The ‘Joker,’ looking relaxed, even smoking a cigarette, was taunting them.

The ‘Joker’ slid down the handrail of the stairs as if riding a slide.

He blew out a long stream of cigarette smoke and looked up at the top of the stairs. The fat police officers were chasing him as if they were about to die, but the ‘Joker,’ with his long red hair swept back, smirked and moved his feet with a tap-dancing rhythm.

The next line was spoken softly by Director Ahn Ga-bok, who had moved towards the stairs.

“This is awesome.”

At that moment, Director Ahn Ga-bok was overcome with the desire to see the imagined scene on the monitor as soon as possible.

‘Hoo—two weeks will feel like 200 years.’

He spoke in English to the foreign key staff who had approached him.

“We should shoot this scene here.”

Director Ahn Ga-bok took out a playing card from his pocket and spoke again. The card had a picture of the ‘Joker’ on it.

“The first scene should be the ‘Joker’s’ first awakening scene.”

About a week later, June 4th. Korea.

May had ended, and June had begun. With the weather becoming intensely hot, people on the streets were all dressed lightly. It was late afternoon. Inside a van speeding down the highway, Choi Na-na, the writer of ‘Beneficial Evil,’ which had recently been expanding globally, was visible.

She had her rather long hair rolled up.

-Swish.

She was looking down at her phone, checking articles related to ‘Beneficial Evil.’

『‘Beneficial Evil’ Loses the Top Spot Globally but Remains Strong at Second Place』

『‘Beneficial Evil,’ Nominated for 10 Emmy Awards, Parodied by Famous YouTubers Overseas… Proving It’s a Monster Drama』

『[Issue Pick] ‘Beneficial Evil’ Sweeps the World, Rumors of Season 2 Production』

While reading the articles, Choi Na-na adjusted her round glasses and changed her search topic. She typed in Kang Woo-jin. An enormous amount of results poured out.

‘Wow—amazing!’

Choi Na-na was well aware of Kang Woo-jin’s influence, but she was always moved and had made it a habit to search for him like this. By the way, Choi Na-na’s value had skyrocketed. Of course, it was still far less than Kang Woo-jin’s, but since she had hit a home run on the world stage with her first work, she was now receiving love calls from overseas.

At that moment.

“Writer.”

A woman sitting next to Choi Na-na spoke. It was Kim So-hyang, the general director. In fact, this van had departed from Netflix Korea, and the destination of Choi Na-na, Kim So-hyang, and the others was Yeoncheon, Gyeonggi Province. In other words, they were heading to the ‘Beneficial Evil’ filming set.

Kim So-hyang, the general director, smiled slightly and asked Choi Na-na.

“Have you made any progress on the story for ‘Beneficial Evil 2’?”

Choi Na-na put down her phone and scratched her head.

“Not yet… Honestly, the story was opened with ‘Jang Yeon-woo,’ so if the lead changes, I don’t know how to start.”

Kim So-hyang let out a short breath, as if she also had a headache.

“Hoo—of course, it’s best if ‘Jang Yeon-woo’ continues to lead the story. But besides Kang Woo-jin’s value, which has increased tenfold, his schedule is the problem. I asked CEO Choi, and he said that his schedule is almost full for this year and even next year.”

“I expected that. But General Director, if Woo-jin is not in ‘Beneficial Evil,’ will people watch it?”

“······Viewers will drop, a lot. At least by half. No, it might drop even more than that. But ignoring the fact that Netflix headquarters is throwing a huge amount of money to push for it—it’s difficult for me, in my position?”

“I also love ‘Beneficial Evil’ so much that I agreed to do it, but honestly, I don’t know if an actor will appear to take Woo-jin’s place.”

After talking for a while, Choi Na-na was the first to lower her gaze. With a troubled face, she picked up her phone again. Even though she had many thoughts, her fingers moved.

-Swish.

Choi Na-na was now on Instagram. She habitually went to Kang Woo-jin’s page, then arrived at a place she had been visiting frequently recently. Soon, excitement spread across her gloomy face.

“Oh!!”

Then, she shouted to Kim So-hyang next to her.

“They announced it!!”

Choi Na-na urgently showed her phone screen. The SNS she had accessed was.

-[Hello, this is the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS).]

It was the official channel of the organization that hosts the ‘Emmy Awards,’ known as the ‘Academy Awards’ of the broadcasting industry. The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS) had just posted an official announcement, and Choi Na-na shouted the key part of the content.

“The ‘Emmys’! It’s on August 1st!!”

That meant there were less than two months left.

Meanwhile, in Yeoncheon, Gyeonggi Province.

About a hundred staff members were silently watching the filming zone. It was the production team of ‘Beneficial Evil.’ Song Man-woo PD, with a serious expression, was staring at a monitor that focused on a person’s face among several monitors.

“······”

The person on the monitor was, of course, Kang Woo-jin. Currently, Woo-jin, who was ‘Jang Yeon-woo’ himself, spoke while taking off his suit jacket.

“It’s hot.”

He walked towards the camera in front of him in the filming zone. His face was full of annoyance, the atmosphere of a weary office worker. As he got closer to the camera, he spoke again.

“Next—”

He brushed right past the camera. But the camera remained still. Silence spread throughout the filming set for a moment. About 5 seconds. By now, everyone from Kang Woo-jin to the hundred staff members had their eyes on Song Man-woo PD. The bearded Song Man-woo PD, who had been watching the monitor.

“Cut.”

He gave a short signal, stood up, and exchanged glances with Kang Woo-jin. Then, he gave a thumbs up.

“OK. You did a great job, Woo-jin.”

Soon, the hundred staff members let out a roar as if they had rehearsed it, and Song Man-woo PD approached Kang Woo-jin, who was dusting off his clothes, and offered a handshake.

“I’m looking forward to ‘Pierrot: The Birth of a Villain.’”

Kang Woo-jin replied indifferently.

“See you at the ‘Emmys.’”

The filming for ‘Beneficial Evil’ Part 2 was over.