小火星

Chapter 300: Autumn (1)

However.

“……Phew.”

A tingling sensation was coursing through Woojin’s entire body.

It was understandable.

Though the real world had paused, Kang Woojin had lived in the world of ‘Beneficial Evil’ as ‘Jang Yeon-woo’. He had shattered an unknown man’s skull. He had smashed a face by slamming it into the ground. He had pierced a chest with an AK rifle. He had snapped a neck. He had slit a belly with a knife. He had gouged out an eye. He had slit a throat.

In a brief moment, he had annihilated more than a dozen people.

He had set a building on fire and fought his way through roads where bullets rained down like a storm. Cars exploded. Helicopters fell. All while bursting a few more heads.

It was violence beyond anything imaginable.

These were things he could never experience in the real world, and Kang Woojin knew it was an impossible world, not something that could happen outside of a movie or dramas. Not even the military could offer such experiences.

But Woojin had lived in that brutal world. He had breathed there. He had adapted. It was quite bearable.

‘I can still feel the explosions.’

The flames that had erupted magnificently before his eyes. The sandy wind that had splashed onto his face. The ringing in his ears. The heat that had suffocated his breath. The explosive force that had pushed his body involuntarily. Incredibly, Woojin, who had returned to reality, still felt that ‘Jang Yeon-woo’s’ life, vividly imprinted on his entire body, was astonishing.

Even the lingering smell of blood and metal.

But did ‘Beneficial Evil’s’ world consume Kang Woojin? Not at all. Killing, shooting guns—these were all things Woojin had done in past works. The character ‘Jang Yeon-woo’ had simply killed more people.

Soon, Kang Woojin.

“Yeah, I’m okay now.”

He felt his mind control was complete. It was no different than before. This time, ‘Beneficial Evil’ had also been thoroughly imprinted on him, just like the countless works before it, but it disappeared quickly.

Kang Woojin spread his concept act.

He became more aware of his true self. Though numerous characters and worlds existed within him, he was still the one who controlled them, the master was Kang Woojin. With that, he lowered the script and walked to the bathroom. It was time to start getting ready.

At the same time, he thought.

“‘Beneficial Evil’ shooting would be fun?”

What if the world of ‘Beneficial Evil’, which he had personally experienced (reading), was brought to life in reality? What if in that film set, ‘Jang Yeon-woo’, who adhered to the ‘freedom of the role’, roamed freely? Woojin realized, even as he showered, that he was filled with anticipation. It was strange. In the past, he had some worries, but now it was hard to find such feelings.

“I’ve really become an actor, for real.”

There was a tremor, but it wasn’t out of fear; it was closer to excitement.

After drying his hair moderately, Woojin arrived at the underground parking lot where a waiting van greeted him. As expected, the briefing started with Choi Sung-gun, who had his hair tied in a ponytail.

“How are you feeling today?”

“No different from yesterday.”

“Great. That’s good.”

With a smirk, he changed the topic.

“I heard from PD Song Man-woo yesterday, they’ve hired an overseas team for the action scenes in ‘Beneficial Evil’.”

“An overseas team?”

“Yeah. They’ll probably mix with the existing martial arts team. That- what was it in the newly added cut, ‘CQC’? They say it’s a team that specializes in that.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah, they say the original martial arts director could do it, but it probably wouldn’t be as professional.”

In other words, they were adding more expertise to the planned action sequences.

“Anyway, when we start martial arts practice, it’ll be with both the existing martial arts team and the overseas team included.”

They would probably practice unarmed combat based on martial arts, along with guns, knives, and other combat techniques according to the storyboard. Well, of course, Kang Woojin wasn’t particularly nervous. Experts? Well, Kang Woojin himself, sitting in the van and calmly looking out the window, was a human weapon.

Of course, one with a switch that could be controlled at will.

Then, Choi Sung-gun asked Woojin again.

“So, do you think you can handle it? Those overseas guys are probably going to be huge. I heard the ‘CQC’ techniques are really tough.”

Inwardly, Kang Woojin gave a thumbs up.

‘Piece of cake.’

On the outside, he maintained his usual cold demeanor.

“I’ll have to try it first, but it doesn’t seem too difficult.”

Choi Sung-gun let out a faint laugh and then reassured himself internally.

‘Just accept it, don’t question it! Choi Sung-gun. That guy is Kang Woojin.’

A few hours later, at writer Choi Na-na’s office.

Writer Choi Na-na, who had met with Kang Woojin recently, was now staring at her laptop.

-Click, click!

She wasn’t writing the script for ‘Beneficial Evil’. She was looking at an email that had arrived a few minutes ago. The sender was Japan’s ‘A10 Studio’. ‘A10 Studio’ periodically shared updates regarding the progress of the ‘Male Friend: Remake’ with Choi Na-na, the original creator of ‘Male Friend’.

This email was the same.

“Wow- They’ve already finished the voice recording and mixing.”

Although this had already been made public through the media, Choi Na-na, who had been preoccupied with the additional writing for ‘Beneficial Evil’ lately, just found out now. Soon, as she skimmed through the contents of the email from ‘A10 Studio’.

-Swish.

She minimized the email window and opened a search engine. She was about to do a search. The search term, of course, was ‘Male Friend: Remake’. Usually, for Japanese anime works, there wouldn’t be many articles in Korea, but since Kang Woojin had taken on the role of the male lead’s voice actor in ‘Male Friend: Remake’, a flood of articles had been published.

There were articles written just out of anticipation, and there were also articles that directly assessed Japanese media and conveyed the facts.

After reading the articles intently for a while, writer Choi Na-na took off her round glasses and let out a short breath.

“Phew- I’m nervous.”

Recently, Choi Na-na’s life, in a way, could be described as golden. Her debut work ‘Male Friend’ was being remade as a Japanese anime, and simultaneously, ‘Beneficial Evil’ was aiming for global market. For her, a formerly unknown rookie writer just last year, it felt like walking in a dream.

And Kang Woojin was involved in both works.

“PD-nim said not to worry, that it would turn out well.”

By nature, the timid Choi Na-na was filled with anxiety. On the other hand, PD Song Man-woo had reassured her with an odd remark.

‘Ah, it’ll do well. We have the Kang Totem after all.’

He didn’t seem concerned at all.

But what on earth is Kang Totem?

Anyway, Choi Na-na slowly closed her laptop and raised her head. The familiar ceiling came into view. At the same time, she recalled Kang Woojin, whom she had seen a few days ago during the meeting. To be precise, it was the short conversation she had with him.

It started with writer Choi Na-na timidly speaking up.

“Um… Woojin-nim.”

Kang Woojin, who was about to leave the meeting room, responded in a low tone.

“Yes, writer-nim.”

As Choi Sung-gun sensed the atmosphere and was about to leave, Choi Na-na, in a crawling voice, spoke again.

“It’s a bit odd to ask this during the meeting about ‘Beneficial Evil’, but… how did you feel during the voice recording for ‘Male Friend: Remake’?”

“What do you mean by feeling?”

“Just… how the other voice actors felt, or the production atmosphere. I do get updates via email, but since you experienced it firsthand on set. If the voice recording was done, then the anime must already be completed, right?”

“Yes. I recorded while watching the finished anime.”

“No way. So, how was it?? Did it turn out well?”

Kang Woojin, after a brief silence, shook his head.

“I can’t go into detail.”

“Well, I understand.”

“But to me, it seemed quite enjoyable.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“It will do well.”

“How- How is it that Woojin-ssi always sounds so confident??”

“I don’t know, it’s just a feeling.”

Writer Choi Na-na was left dumbfounded. In contrast, Kang Woojin remained calm and dignified as he left the meeting room. Watching his retreating figure, Choi Na-na mumbled to herself.

“……A feeling? What feeling?”

She had no way of knowing that ‘Male Friend: Remake’ was SS grade.

Meanwhile, in Tokyo, Japan.

Inside ‘A10 Studio’, the giant anime production company located near Tokyo Station, a mid-sized studio that functioned as both a recording studio and a testing room was packed with people.

The first thing that stood out were the voice actors sitting in chairs.

From Umi Natsumi, who voiced the female lead in the anime ‘Male Friend: Remake’, to Asami Sayaka, who had a deep connection with Woojin, and many others. Dozens of voice actors who had gathered for the script reading session in the past were now present. Kang Woojin was the only one absent.

All of them had serious expressions.

“……”

“……”

“……”

With such expressions, they were all staring intently at the large monitor in front of them. Near that monitor stood Mahiro Sakuichi, the overall director of ‘Male Friend: Remake’, along with several key staff members. Of course, executives from ‘A10 Studio’ were also present.

At this moment.

“Well then, let’s begin.”

A woman standing near the entrance of the studio turned off the lights. She was the female team leader of the planning team who had been handling ‘Male Friend: Remake’.

-Click, click!

Before they knew it, the entire studio was enveloped in a suitable darkness. Everyone gathered in the room fell silent. Their unified action was to direct their gaze at the large monitor in front of them.

Soon.

-♬♪

The audio began to resonate powerfully before the screen even lit up. It was the official OP (opening song) of ‘Male Friend: Remake’. The song started with piano melody, quickly picking up tempo as violin joined in. Then, a male vocal kicked in. Naturally, it was Kang Woojin’s voice.

-♬♪

As Kang Woojin’s OP filled the studio, the opening cuts of the anime began to appear on the large monitor. It was ‘Male Friend: Remake’. The running time of the opening was about 30 seconds. As the OP played, the expressions of the dozens of voice actors gradually brightened. Some even nodded their heads in rhythm.

Eventually.

-Sss.

The OP came to a halt, and the actual content of ‘Male Friend: Remake’ began to play in earnest. The voice actors’ eyes widened. It was inevitable. What they were watching now was the complete first episode of ‘Male Friend: Remake’, fully finished with voice mixing and final edits.

In other words, this was a pre-broadcast test of the completed version.

Nothing seemed lacking. At least not to the eyes of the voice actors. With their experience of having worked on dozens of productions, their judgment was precise.

The male lead of ‘Male Friend: Remake’, ‘Toru Sengoku’, appeared on screen.

Kang Woojin’s voice could be heard.

The voice actors were reminded once again.

‘He’s really good; you feel it even more when you see the final product.’

‘His tone matches the protagonist perfectly.’

‘Who would ever guess that….. he’s an actor? He’s 100% a voice actor.’

They realized once again just how ridiculously good Kang Woojin’s voice acting skills were. And so, the first episode of ‘Male Friend: Remake’ concluded. The running time was about 24 minutes. The second episode played right after, which was slightly shorter at around 18 minutes.

Before the third episode started.

-Swish.

The director, seated in front of the monitor equipment, turned his head towards the voice actors seated behind him.

“How was it?”

He was asking for their opinions before moving on to the third episode. Interestingly, applause suddenly erupted among the voice actors.

-Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap!

It wasn’t something they had intended; rather, it was applause filled with their genuine feelings. The applause gradually spread throughout the studio, and the voice actors, excited, began sharing their impressions of the completed first and second episodes in enthusiastic Japanese.

“It’s good! It’s really good!”

“The anime quality is amazing! Honestly, among recent works, this has to be number one in terms of visuals, right?”

“It’s been a while since we had a proper rom-com!”

“It’s fun; even though I did the voice work, it’s still fun to watch!”

“But isn’t the OP and EP just killer? They’re already stuck in my head.”

“Yeah, especially the OP. Kang Woojin’s vocals are definitely charming.”

“I’ve got a feeling! The OP is definitely going to top the charts as soon as the anime airs!”

The voice actors were chattering excitedly. It wasn’t an exaggeration. Even the executives of ‘A10 Studio’, which is ranked in the top 3 in the industry, were very satisfied. The veterans’ eyes also confirmed that the quality and completion of ‘Male Friend: Remake’ were impressive.

The female team leader from the planning team, who had been quietly observing from the entrance, suddenly chimed in.

“The day it dominates the charts is not far off. The broadcaster is TBE, and the first episode airs on Monday, July 12th at 10 PM.”

Indeed, the day when the lid would be lifted on ‘Male Friend: Remake’ was just around the corner.

“There are about 30 competing works this quarter.”

A fierce battlefield was anticipated.

Incheon Airport.

The arrival hall was overflowing with a crowd of people. In that arrival hall, a group of foreigners appeared. Some had buzz cut hair, others were bulky, muscular men. About five foreigners entered the arrival hall, and a Korean person nearby welcomed them.

Upon closer look, the Korean was a staff member from ‘Beneficial Evil’.

The two groups conversed in English briefly and then moved on. The foreign group split into two large vans parked on the side of the road outside the airport. Three of the foreigners got into the front van—a man with buzz-cut hair, a man built like a bear, and a man with a big nose. Once everyone had boarded, the two vans started moving, and the big-nosed man in the front van spoke in English.

“It’s hot. I didn’t expect it to be this hot.”

The other two foreign men nodded in agreement.

“I had heard about it, but it’s even worse than I thought.”

“Still, it seems better than Japan where we went last year, doesn’t it?”

It felt like the big-nosed man was the leader. The man with a average build but toned muscles, sitting by the window, extended his hand to the man with the buzz-cut hair sitting to his right.

“Let me see the material we received.”

The man with the buzz-cut hair pulled out a tablet from the backpack placed in front of him. After some manipulation, a video started playing. Interestingly, the person in the video was none other than Kang Woojin. To be precise, it was Woojin from the past, demonstrating martial arts practice at an action school.

“Hmm-”

The big-nosed man, who was watching Kang Woojin on the tablet carefully, murmured softly.

“His form is good, but… it’s hard to judge without seeing him in person.”

“Still, it seems he’s got more than just the basics down.”

“But just having the basics isn’t enough to implement ‘CQC’. It will take a lot of time.”

“I heard there’s not much time left before filming. Hmm—if it’s too difficult, we might have to compromise with direction.”

In fact, these men were the Hollywood stunt coordinator team recruited by ‘Beneficial Evil’ team. The big-nosed man, who was rubbing his chin, spoke again.

“From the video, I don’t see the greatness that ‘Gary Peck’ mentioned.”

The ‘Gary Peck’ he mentioned was a pretty successful stunt coordinator in Hollywood, who had experienced Kang Woojin during the screen test for ‘Last Kill 3’.

“Our meeting with this actor, Kang Woojin, is scheduled for this afternoon, right?”

****

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