I was Mistaken as a Monstrous Genius Actor [EN]: Chapter 436

Kang Woo-jin had received an enormous proposal, but his answer was extremely concise.

“Forget everything else, bring me the script first.”

Soon, the executives of ‘Columbia Studios’ were slightly surprised. Some even frowned.

‘Given the atmosphere, I thought he’d at least say yes verbally?’

‘He took on the first villain, the ‘Joker,’ so it should be meaningful, and it should be an honor for the actor—but this actor doesn’t care about such things.’

Well, it was a natural reaction.

From the start, the script for ‘Pierrot: The Birth of a Villain’ was delivered by Director Ahn Ga-bok, not them, and in reality, the executives were seeing Kang Woo-jin’s reaction to the casting for the first time. Whatever the case, Woo-jin had a solemn face, but he wasn’t particularly serious.

‘‘Pierrot: The Birth of a Villain’ was great in terms of ratings and quality, but who knows about the next movies? If they’re going to flop, there’s no reason to do them.’

Actors cast in the ‘Cinematic Universe’ series movies generally continue to appear in their roles with a sense of connection. There are many reasons, such as character ambition or honor, but one of the key reasons is maintaining the established fandom.

In other words, the impact and inflated recognition.

But for Woo-jin, who had the ‘Subspace’ [a personal space or ability unique to him], such secondary reasons were meaningless.

It was ‘Columbia Studios’ that was disappointed.

Recognizing this, the bald man among the ‘Columbia Studios’ executives spoke again.

“Of course, we plan to hand over the script as soon as it’s completed—haha, Mr. Kang Woo-jin, you’re as ruthless as Director Ahn said.”

“For me, the script is more important than any other reason.”

The bald executive nodded as if he understood. At the same time, he briefed on the plans scheduled for next year and the year after.

To summarize, it was like this.

The ‘Cinematic Universe’ world that ‘Columbia Studios,’ one of the ‘Big Five’ in Hollywood, had been planning for years, staking their lives on it. The start of it was this ‘Pierrot: The Birth of a Villain,’ and the first villain was the ‘Joker.’

Since a villain was born, a hero had to appear as well.

So, naturally, the second movie would be about the first hero to appear, and that hero’s world would intertwine with the ‘Joker.’ In addition, the third movie, which would be released in succession, would also feature another hero, and other villains besides the ‘Joker’ would appear. Of course, in the same universe. They planned to create stories while explaining each character’s world.

But this was just the beginning of the ‘Cinematic Universe’ planned by ‘Columbia Studios.’

‘Columbia Studios’ aimed to release a total of three movies by the year after next. Regardless, there was no change in Woo-jin’s cynical expression. In fact, he was secretly amazed.

‘Ooh—is this making my heart race? The scale is huge?’

However, due to his intense concept, all the executives, including the bald man, thought that Kang Woo-jin wasn’t particularly impressed.

‘Is the script really the priority? Or is it the money?’

Another executive chimed in.

“Mr. Woo-jin, your expected appearance fee is also written in the proposal. Have you seen it?”

Kang Woo-jin and Choi Sung-gun’s gazes went down. Soon, Woo-jin discovered his enormous fee.

‘Huh! Damn!’

He almost exclaimed out loud. The reason was simple. It was higher than ‘Pierrot: The Birth of a Villain.’ Honestly, Woo-jin was starting to wonder if these numbers were real money. Choi Sung-gun also didn’t show it for strategic reasons, but internally, he was shocked.

‘Crazy—Hollywood class!!’

However, Kang Woo-jin’s voice, covered in bravado, was still composed and calm.

“Yes, I have confirmed it.”

That’s how the meeting, which had been going on for about an hour, ended. As Kang Woo-jin left the conference room, he thought while maintaining his indifference.

‘Wow—damn, my fee is going crazy? Seriously, if the script isn’t bad, I should just do it.’

On the other hand, the ‘Columbia Studios’ executives inside the conference room were serious. They had no way of knowing Kang Woo-jin’s true feelings, and his reaction had been lukewarm.

“Kang Woo-jin doesn’t seem ambitious… This is difficult.”

“I still think it’s because of the money. It wasn’t enough.”

“That might be part of it—but he also seems to be looking at the content of the next movie.”

“Hah… We’ve already offered a pretty high fee. We can’t go any higher than that.”

Various opinions were thrown around.

“Anyway, if we want to get Kang Woo-jin, we have to move before the end of this year. He already has his schedule confirmed for next year with ‘Beast and Beauty’ and ‘Universal Movies.’ If he confirms another project, we won’t have any room to do ours.”

“…We might have to consider other actors besides Kang Woo-jin for the next movie.”

“For the ‘Joker’?”

“I’m saying we need to prepare.”

At that moment.

-Swish.

The quiet bald executive stroked his smooth head and recalled Kang Woo-jin’s ‘Joker’ from the audition. Along with all his performances he had seen so far.

Soon, the bald executive slowly crossed his arms.

“Other actors? Who could surpass Kang Woo-jin’s ‘Joker’? It’s impossible to even replicate it. We’ve already seen it, our standards have been raised infinitely. It would be fine if it was just us, but—”

The bald executive gave a subtle smile.

“What about the global public? Can the public who saw that ‘Joker’ in ‘Pierrot: The Birth of a Villain’ be satisfied with another actor?”

“……”

“……”

The noisy conference room became quiet in an instant. Then, the bald executive shook his head as if the thought alone made his skin crawl.

“If we replace Kang Woo-jin with another actor for the ‘Joker,’ the soaring interest will probably, no, 100% plummet. That means the entire ‘Cinematic Universe’ world will be ruined.”

Soon, he tapped the part of the transparent file that showed Kang Woo-jin’s fee with his index finger.

“In other words, we have to get Kang Woo-jin no matter what. Even if it costs twice as much.”

Back outside.

Kang Woo-jin was moving in a van. The destination wasn’t far. It was the set of ‘Pierrot: The Birth of a Villain’ within ‘Columbia Studios.’ However, the area was so vast that it was impossible to walk there.

Around this time, Kang Woo-jin was looking at his phone.

‘It’s still a mess.’

The heroic tale of Kang Woo-jin saving Kara’s life, which had broken out yesterday, was spreading like wildfire around the world, not just in Hollywood.

『LA TIME/Kang Woo-jin, who saved Miley Kara, had a similar heroic tale in Korea!』

As Woo-jin read the various articles, his confusion deepened. It was understandable.

‘But where did this leak from?’

It was an incident that could shake Hollywood, but Miley Kara’s side had quietly buried the matter to minimize the damage. Well, it didn’t really matter to Kang Woo-jin. He hadn’t done it for any reward, and as a result, he had received a definite reward from Kara by saving her.

Kara had bought him a mansion in LA, and she had also cast him in ‘The Righteous Evil’ Part 1, her first Korean project as an actress.

Furthermore.

‘I also got a little closer to Miley Kara.’

Before entering Hollywood, Kang Woo-jin, who had no acquaintances, had also secured a huge connection in Kara. He was quite satisfied, so Woo-jin had forgotten about the incident of saving her without much thought.

But suddenly, that hidden matter had surfaced.

『CNM/The culprit who attacked Miley Kara is already in custody, Miley’s side “Thankful to Kang Woo-jin”』

It was even shaking Hollywood to its core. Currently, Hollywood media was only reporting on Miley Kara’s attack, using words like exclusive and breaking news. Various news channels were also covering this story.

Even though it was an incident that had happened quite a while ago, the impact was enormous.

The target was none other than Miley Kara, a top-tier actress in Hollywood.

It was natural for things to be shaken up when the attack on her, a global superstar and a top predator as both an actress and a singer, which had been quietly covered up, suddenly resurfaced. Moreover, the person who saved her was Kang Woo-jin, the hottest man in Hollywood right now, whether positively or negatively.

The story of the two stars mixed, and the excitement jumped several times over.

In addition, photos and short videos from that time were circulating. The detailed situation wasn’t filmed, but there were scenes of Kang Woo-jin subduing the woman, the weapon the woman was holding, and the chaotic music video set. The videos also showed the scene with screams echoing around. Kara and Kang Woo-jin were clearly captured in them.

What was interesting here was.

『BBX/Kang Woo-jin, who was controversial on ‘Tonight Show,’ rapidly recovers his image with heroic tale related to Miley Kara』

The dirty comments about Kang Woo-jin that had been maintained since the ‘Tonight Show’ had caused the reaction of the global public to change drastically. The temperature of public opinion and the media had changed considerably. As Kang Woo-jin was exploring articles, communities, and social media for a while.

-Bzzzt, bzzzt.

A call came in. The caller ID showed Miley Kara. Soon, Woo-jin exchanged glances with Choi Sung-gun and put the phone to his ear.

“Yes, Miley. It’s me.”

Kara’s voice on the other end of the phone was surprisingly calm.

“Woo-jin, have you checked the articles?”

“Yes. I’ve been looking at them since yesterday—did you leak this, by any chance?”

It was a natural question. It would be easiest for the person who covered it up to bring it out. But the answer that came back was NO.

“Of course not. We also found out by reading the articles, we’re checking where it leaked from. But it’s been quite a while, and there were many staff members at the scene at the time, so it’s not easy to check them all one by one.”

“I guess so.”

“But I thought we couldn’t keep covering this up forever anyway, didn’t we talk about that?”

That’s right. Similar words had come up in the conversation between Kang Woo-jin and Kara at the time of the incident. They had said that they couldn’t hide it forever. Then, Kang Woo-jin nodded indifferently.

“Yes. Still, it suddenly blew up. Is there any problem?”

Kara on the other end of the phone gave a laughing reply.

“Isn’t ‘Are you okay?’ more appropriate in this situation? What do you mean by ‘Is there any problem?’”

“…Are you okay?”

“That’s like you. Well, there’s nothing particularly problematic. It’s all true anyway. We covered it up back then because we were so out of it, but it doesn’t matter now, right? Woo-jin, how about you?”

Me? I’m the same. There was nothing that would harm Kang Woo-jin if this incident was revealed.

“I’m the same.”

“Then it’s okay to just leave it. Let the media and the public enjoy it.”

“Sure.”

After Kang Woo-jin’s simple answer, Kara’s voice, changing the subject, was heard again through the phone.

“Have you eaten? Ah—are you on your way to the set right now?”

“That’s right.”

“Make sure to eat something when you get there.”

After a casual conversation, Kara hung up. Woo-jin, who put down his phone, maintained his poker face, but his heart was strangely pounding.

‘What was that conversation before we hung up? It was like we were dating??’

At this moment, Choi Sung-gun chimed in.

“What did Miley say?”

Woo-jin, quickly putting on his concept, lowered his voice.

“She said they didn’t leak it, and it’s not a problem at all.”

“Really? Hmm—that’s strange. I thought Kara had opened it up. The timing is right? In a situation where your image has become a bit dirty, this heroic tale bursting out like this doesn’t happen by chance.”

Choi Sung-gun, who had been stroking his chin, stopped thinking.

“Okay, it’s not a problem for either side, so let’s just let it roll.”

Suddenly, he smiled wryly.

“But isn’t the picture funny?”

“What do you mean?”

“No, you’re the first villain in the ‘Cinematic Universe’ that ‘Columbia Studios’ is staking their lives on, but that ‘Joker’ saved Kara’s life in reality. It’s kind of strange, isn’t it?”

Choi Sung-gun, who was smiling, raised the corners of his mouth like the ‘Joker.’

“When ‘Pierrot: The Birth of a Villain’ is released, this incident will be talked about again later.”

Then, time melted away.

Kang Woo-jin, who was working in Hollywood where various issues were breaking out, was in a continuous cycle of filming. Of course, there were many miscellaneous schedules, but the core was filming.

“Cut, OK. Woo-jin, would you like to try it freely this time?”

“Understood.”

Director Ahn Ga-bok, who had been suppressed, had gained several times more momentum. For reference, Nora was coming to the set less often than at the beginning.

That’s how a week disappeared in the blink of an eye.

It was already the third week of July. Specifically, Monday the 18th. It was early morning, and while various news was being added in Hollywood and Korea, Kang Woo-jin, who had just left his LA mansion, with a calm face and a hat pulled low.

-Thump!

He got into the waiting van. Soon, Kang Woo-jin, who greeted Choi Sung-gun and the team members in a low tone, picked up a script.

‘Let’s see—’

It wasn’t ‘Pierrot: The Birth of a Villain.’ It was ‘Beast and Beauty.’ The reason was simple.

He was now.

『’World Star’ Kang Woo-jin, active in LA! Today, the 18th, starts the script reading for ‘Beast and Beauty’』

He was heading to the script reading for ‘Beast and Beauty.’