Episode 480: Complete (3)





Late July, LA.

Kang Woo-jin was on the expansive set that mirrors the city. Wearing tattered short sleeves and jeans, he is engaged in action with several men in an alley.

"Hah!"

"ack!"

With restrained movements and strikes, sturdy men fall one after another. The last man remains standing, facing Woojin, who wears a dry expression and displays unusual skills.

"... ... ... ahhh!"

The man runs away in panic. Woojin doesn't bother to chase him but instead searches the pockets of the fallen men and pulls out their cell phones. Kang Woo-jin makes a call somewhere. Several cameras capture the scene, perfectly framed.

The silence lasts for about 10 seconds.

"...Cut!"

Danny Landis, a seasoned director with round glasses perched on the tip of his nose, who had been watching the monitor, jumps up and shouts.

"OK!!!"

At the same time, about 100 staff members around him suddenly erupt in cheers. There is also applause. Coach Danny Landis runs over to Woojin and explains why.

"You've worked hard up until now. I plan to focus on post-production so that Woojin's efforts won't go to waste."

"Thank you for your hard work, Director."

"There are still a few steps left, including post-production recording, but as of today, the entire filming schedule for John Persona is complete."

The filming of John Persona, which started in February, is now finished. The scheduled crank-up was around June, but it was postponed due to many events surrounding Kang Woo-jin. Regardless, with this, only editing remains for Kang Woo-jin's third Hollywood film, John Persona.

Soon, Kang Woo-jin greets many key staff members, including director Danny.

As expected, his poker face was dark, but inside, he felt light and happy.

'Uh-huh, finally! I can get some rest now. It may be short, though.'

At this moment, someone called out to Kang Woo-jin, who was surrounded by staff.

"Mr. Woojin."

When he turned around, he saw the giant Joseph Felton smiling. Had he gained more muscle? Thanks to the black t-shirt that clung to his body, his masculine appearance stood out. Joseph Felton, holding a wad of paper in one hand, approached Woojin and offered his hand for a shake.

"As always, today's filming was the best. It was an honor to be with you throughout the filming of John Persona."

Woojin, who felt a bit embarrassed on the inside, gave a low response on the outside, pretending it was no big deal.

"Thank you."

Joseph Felton, who had been looking around the noisy surroundings, said to Woojin, "Can you give me a moment?"

"About 10 minutes."

"Yes, that's enough."

The two moved to Woojin's trailer.

A moment later, Kang Woo-jin's team members were already in the trailer, but Choi Seong-gun, who noticed right away, took them out and left. Soon, only Kang Woo-jin and Joseph Felton remained in the trailer. It was Joseph who opened the water first.

"Actually, I've been wanting to propose this to you for several months, but I was a little late because I knew what your answer would be if the scenario didn't come out."

Joseph placed the stack of paper he had brought with him on the table. The title 'John Persona 2' was engraved on the cover. Kang Woo-jin immediately recognized it.

'Ah! This is the John Persona 2 scenario!'

Joseph, who presented the scenario, smiled and continued.

"You mentioned once during filming that John Persona is confirmed to be a series, and Universal Movies is planning up to three films. The scenario for John Persona 2 has now been released."

"Okay."

"Of course, Universal Movies, the director, myself, and everyone involved in this movie are desperately hoping you'll take on the role in John Persona 2. Of course, auditions are meaningless for you, Woojin. All of the actors in the second film are yours. We'll discuss it and make decisions after it garners the necessary attention."

"Is that so?"

"... ... ... Yes! First of all, here are the conditions we're considering."

"Joseph."

Kang Woo-jin inadvertently interrupted Joseph Felton, who was about to vigorously state the conditions.

"Before hearing the conditions, I want to check the scenario first."

If the conditions and scenarios are bad, everything is meaningless. The first part had a solid scenario, but there was a good chance that John Persona 2 could be trash. Soon, Joseph Felton, still smiling, nodded as if he had anticipated Woojin's reaction.

"Of course, please check the scenario and contact me anytime."

"All right."

After saying goodbye, Joseph left the trailer. Now Kang Woo-jin was left alone. Woojin picked up the John Persona 2 scenario from the table. As expected, there was a black square next to the scenario. He inadvertently poked the swirling black square with his index finger.

Pok*—In an instant, Kang Woo-jin's world turned into an endlessly dark subspace. He immediately stretched out and discarded his concept.

"Ah, since I came in, I should get some rest."

He walked toward a place where several white squares were floating. Before long, their number had increased significantly. Kang Woo-jin first confirmed other works, except for Perriot: Birth of a Villain, which had already achieved first place worldwide.

"Wow, a lot of ratings have climbed."

Meanwhile, the ratings of other works were upgraded.

-[12/Scenario (Title: Beast and the Beauty), EX+ grade]

-[13/Scenario (Title: John Persona), EX grade]

-[14/Scenario (Title: Guest), EX level]

-[15/Scenario (Title: Bat: Birth of a Hero), EX+++ level]

They were all EX level or higher. Of course, this happened because of Kang Woo-jin's incredible power or Perriot's awesome power.

And the very last one.

-[16/Scenario (Title: John Persona 2), EX level]

The just-updated John Persona 2 was EX level from the start. Kang Woo-jin smiled deeply.

"It's great."

At this point, Kang Woo-jin suddenly had a question.

"... ... But how long will subspace last?"

He wondered how long this absurd subspace would remain by his side. He was prepared for it to disappear at any moment, but if it disappeared too suddenly...

'Honestly, it's a bit disappointing.'

Now, it felt like subspace was a colleague he had been with all along. What would happen to the abilities when subspace disappears? Since it was imprinted on Kang Woo-jin, would it remain the same? Or not?

'Will it disappear along with subspace?'

Kang Woo-jin, who had been silent for a moment, raised his head and spoke into the dark subspace.

"Hey, subspace, how long are you going to stay??"

Of course, there was no answer. It wasn't surprising since it was always like that. Kang Woo-jin muttered to himself, 'What am I doing?'

Then, in that moment—In the last white square, one that had not been updated appeared out of nowhere. It was transparent but quickly became clear. Woojin blinked as he watched it.

"W-what is it??"

Obviously, John Persona 2 was the last one, but one more white square appeared after that. Kang Woo-jin, frowning, took a step closer to the newly created white square. His toes were shaking slightly, surprised by the sudden change.

Then, the contents of the newly formed white square appeared before his eyes.

-[17/Scenario (Title: One Year Later and 30 Minutes Gone), ∞ grade]

[This is the perfect scenario. 100% reading is possible.]

The grades and phrases were quite different. No, this was his first time encountering something like this.

"... ... 'One Year Later and 30 Minutes Gone'?? What is this?"

Kang Woo-jin, still narrowing his eyes, stabbed the white square with his index finger. Soon, new letters appeared.

[You have selected 17/Scenario (Title: One Year Later and 30 Minutes Gone).]

-[List of people who you can Read (experience).]

-[A: Kang Woo-jin]

Woojin tilted his head slightly as he saw his own name.

"Me?"

He touched his name as if possessed.

Soon, a familiar robotic female voice was heard throughout subspace.

["Preparing to read 'A: Kang Woo-jin'... ... ... ... ... ... .] [Completed, perfect scenario.]... ... ... ... ... ... [Readiness implementation level is 100%. Reading begins."]

As soon as her voice ended, a huge gray cloud attacked Kang Woo-jin.

How long has it been?

Kang Woo-jin, who had been silent, began to hear a loud voice in his ears. His dark vision also slowly recovered. Gradually, Woojin's five senses were activated, and he smelled something pleasant.

'... ... Familiar scent.'

It was a perfume he often smelled. In an instant, a blonde woman appeared in Kang Woo-jin's sight after he recovered. She hugged Woojin tightly.

"Woojin! That's amazing!!"

Cara? It was certain. The person who just hugged Kang Woo-jin was his girlfriend, Miley Cara. The familiar scent came from Cara. Gradually, the number of people Kang Woo-jin could see increased. The space around him was also a place he recognized.

'... Is this 'World Disney Pictures'??'

The people around him were actors from Beast and the Beauty, including Miley Cara, Myra Armas, director Bill Lautner, key staff, and executives from World Disney Pictures. They were all cheering wildly while looking at the screen in front of them.

"Oh my!! It's 1.5 billion dollars! 1.5 billion dollars!!"

"Hahaha! As expected! I knew everyone would recognize our Beast and the Beauty!!"

"It surpassed 1.5 billion dollars worldwide!! There may be power in the original work, but the power of Kang Woo-jin and Miley was also huge!"

"There was some talk about 'Beast' in the beginning! No one cared about that! It surpassed $1.5 billion!!"

Kang Woo-jin's eyes moved as he was hugged by Cara. The release results of The Beast and the Beauty were being displayed on the screen. What? If you looked closely, you could see that people's clothes were quite thick. He was also wearing a black and blue jacket. It was definitely summer, but the clothes made it feel like early winter.

It was only at that moment that Kang Woo-jin noticed.

'Am I leading (experiencing) myself in this???'

In a scenario called Kang Woo-jin, he was leading (experiencing) the main character. Cara, who was hugging him tightly, whispered to Kang Woo-jin.

"This is the recognition of your 'beast' by the public around the world."

"... ... Yes, that's right."

"What is that reaction? Are you not happy?"

"I'm Happy."

Director Bill Lautner shouted excitedly.

"Exceeded $1.5 billion! Ranked 8th in global box office success of all time!!"

The surrounding actors applauded.

"8th place of all time!!"

"Wow, that's crazy! But it won't be hard to beat Perriot, which is in first place, right??"

"Hahaha, what are you talking about? How could I beat those monstrous numbers!"

Everyone was drunk with joy. At this point, Kang Woo-jin's eyes turned back to the screen. He saw a list of all-time box office hits from around the world.

[Worldwide Box Office Rankings]

1. [Perriot: Birth of a Villain / $2.8 billion]

8. [Beast and the Beauty / $1.5 billion]

Among the world's all-time box office hits, two were by Kang Woo-jin.

At this moment—'Ugh!'

Kang Woo-jin felt like something was distorting the surroundings, and the background quickly changed. It was his house in LA. The sky was dark. Behind Woojin, who was staring blankly at the house—

"What are you doing? Standing there like an idiot."

A familiar female voice was heard. When Kang Woo-jin turned around, blonde Cara appeared, smiling, and wrapped her arm around his.

"Let's go inside, it's cold."

"... uh?"

"Why are you surprised? We were supposed to stay together today. We were supposed to celebrate and look at my dress."

'Dress?'

At this point, the surroundings became distorted again. This time, Kang Woo-jin was looking down at his cell phone. Seong-geon Choi, with his ponytail, was sitting right next to him, and Kang Woo-jin could hear his frantic voice.

"Okay!! If this happens, three of Woojin's works are in the top 10!!"

Woojin was reading an article about Hollywood.

『NT/ Following Perriot and Beast and the Beauty, Kang Woo-jin's John Persona surpasses 1.3 billion dollars, ranking in the top 10 worldwide box-office films of all time!』

The background changed again.

Kang Woo-jin, holding the remote control, was leisurely watching TV, and a foreign anchor was delivering news on TV.

["The movie Guest, starring Miley Cara and Chris Hartnett, which was the main investment by Woojin Kang and his agency BW Entertainment, continues to be a box office hit, pushing out other blockbuster competitors that spent hundreds of millions of dollars on production. We are maintaining our position."]

At this time, Miley Cara's laughing voice was heard from the kitchen.

"Are you going to relax with me in the villa in Korea, like you promised?"

Miley Cara, with a smile and her blonde hair curled up, came over in comfortable clothes and hugged Woojin on the sofa.

"Because I bought the boat you mentioned! Don't delay this time!"

Kang Woo-jin didn't know what to say, but he lifted Miley Cara in that condition. Unfortunately, just then, Woojin's vision distorted and changed once again. This time, it was a familiar filming location. There were many cameras, equipment, actors, and hundreds of foreign staff.

And there was Director Ga-bok Ahn.

"Woojin, are you ready?"

"... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ."

Kang Woo-jin, who had been looking at Director Ahn Ga-bok's wrinkled face, glanced down at his own clothes. He was in the costume of the 'Joker.' Soon, Director Ahn placed his hand on Woojin's shoulder.

"Let's turn the world upside down in Bat: Birth of a Hero, just like we did with Perriot."

Kang Woo-jin nodded calmly.

"Yes, director."

Then, Director Ang Ga-bok returned to his seat, and hundreds of people all looked at Kang Woo-jin. Soon, Director Ang's voice rang throughout the set.

"Action!!"

At the same time, the world distorted again. However, this time, there was a motion that seemed to be rewinding while everyone else froze. The scenes began to unfold rapidly.

He was giving his speech for winning the Best Actor Award for Joker, attending the Emmy Awards, Cannes Film Festival, filming Leech, Island of the Missing, Blue Dragon Film Festival, and Profiler Hanryang.

The scenario of Kang Woo-jin quickly rewound.

Yet—"I will resign."

At the design company, Woojin announced his resignation.

"I've organized all my tasks so there will be no issues. I'll stop here."

Soon, Kang Woo-jin saw the president who resembled a broad toad.

"Ha! Are you going to hit me??!"

For a moment, everything stopped. Woojin, still experiencing Kang Woo-jin's life, simply waited. There was nothing else he could do. Soon, the world that had stopped changed again. This time, it fast-forwarded, not rewinding. Something passed by. The one-room apartment where he lived for a long time, his friends from the drinking party, appeared.

The fast-forward suddenly stopped.

"Hey, drink up,Fucker!!"

"Yes! What else is there in life?! Drink!!"

"Hey! Kang Woo-jin! Oh—is this guy drunk??!"

"Shut up, what am I drunk on? Raise your glass, you bastards!"

-Banng!*

Woojin was heavily drunk. Daeyoung Kim, Kyungseong Lee, and Hyeonggu Na appeared blurry. His stomach was full, his head spinning. His brain couldn't function properly. He wanted to escape. The air was too stuffy. Kang Woo-jin, staggering, sighed and stood up. The smell of alcohol was strong.

Woojin somehow wanted to breathe fresh air. When he got up and moved, his friends shouted, asking where he was going, but Kang Woo-jin just muttered something like "to the bathroom" and walked away unsteadily. His vision was distorted. It was crumpled and unclear.

'Ah, where's the bathroom?'

It felt nice to get some cold air, but he didn't know where he was. How far had he walked? At that moment, something surged inside Kang Woo-jin. He hurriedly ran into an unknown alley, gripped the wall, and vomited out everything he had eaten.

"hurl*hurl*!"

It was strange; spitting everything out made him feel dizzy. The world spun around him. Moreover, the worries that had been buried deep inside came rushing out.

'I just resigned. What should I do now?'

He had behaved indifferently in front of his friends, but it had been a trick to avoid damaging his relationships with them.

'I'm scared. I'm very anxious.'

Kang Woo-jin continued to vomit, tears flowing down. Some of the tears were from the vomiting, but most were from the fear of the future that overwhelmed him.

"*huuurl*! What the hell is life, really?"

He couldn't remember the past very well. It seemed like a lot had happened, but now it felt empty. He had tried hard. It had been intense. He had been focused. It had definitely been like that, but for some reason, it felt like there was nothing left.

Kang Woo-jin, still vomiting, slipped and fell to the floor.

Cold. The floor was cool.

If I close my eyes like this, everything will be comfortable.

At that moment—

"Child."

Kang Woo-jin, lying face down, heard the voice of an old woman in his ears. Her tone was kind and stable.

"Child, why are you lying on the floor in this cold weather?"

Still dizzy, Kang Woo-jin struggled to raise his head. Through his blurred vision, he saw the old woman smiling at him. Her face and clothes weren't quite clear, but somehow, Woo-jin managed to get up. But the ground was slippery.

"Acck!"

He fell again, landing on the floor. In the end, Kang Woo-jin placed his backside on the cold ground and leaned against the wall of the building. For some reason, he began to sob. His emotions were overflowing. He didn't even understand why his grandmother's voice was so heartbreaking.

"Huh! No, Grandma, I'm sorry. It's me. I'm so sorry. I don't know why life isn't working out like this. I feel like shit. Life really is just... a mess."

The grandmother sat next to Woojin, who was still spitting out alcohol.

"What's so bad about life? What was so hard that you drank so much?"

"It's just that. When I drink, I forget for a while. I can escape from reality.* hooh*... ... I just feel like I'm an extra in this world. An extra that no one cares about, even if I drink and throw up like this."

"... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... "

"I quit the company I was working for, right? I thought I was being cool at the time. But nothing has changed. I'm still heavy and scared. I regret it. I should've just kept going, even though it felt like I was a dog. Then, maybe I wouldn't feel so much like an extra. The world's just... it's not fun."

The grandmother, looking down at Kang Woo-jin as he sobbed, asked quietly,

"Do you want it to be fun?"

"That would be nice. Exciting and fun, not boring. Sorry for talking nonsense and making it all about me, but thank you for listening."

"... Drink."

Suddenly, the grandmother handed something to Woojin.

"Drink it. It'll make you feel better. It'll be fun too."

"Pardon?"

Woojin looked up. His vision was still spinning, but he could make out what looked like a hangover cure in a bottle. He lowered his head and took a sip.

"Thank you so much. But Grandma, something seems to be making me even more dizzy."

"Hey."

The grandmother's kind voice echoed through Woojin's distorted vision.

"You are not in this world. This world is just the background of your life scenario. That's all."

The voice of the grandmother, who had been stroking Woojin's prone head, became muffled.

"Enjoy yourself. You are the star, Child."

The world and the background turned dark. Soon, the robotic female voice from before was heard again.

[A: The reading (experience) of 'Kang Woo-jin' is ending.]

Suddenly, everything shifted.

"... ... ... ... ... ... ... huh?"

Kang Woo-jin found himself back inside the trailer. Slowly, he looked around, touching his arm. It felt exactly the same as it had before he entered the subspace. He checked the time—it was still the same.

For a moment, there was silence.

"Ah!"

Surprised, Kang Woo-jin checked the 'John Persona 2' scenario in his hand. Or more precisely, the black square attached to the side.

But, fortunately...

"Are you still there?"

The swirling 'sub-space' still existed in front of him, with the protagonist standing in place. Kang Woo-jin's smile deepened, and he let out a long sigh.

"Okay, let's enjoy 'No-Fuck-Care' like we always do."

Kang Woo-jin picked up his phone. The person on the other end was Joseph Felton, whom he had just met. The connection signal was short, and Joseph looked a little surprised when he saw Woojin on the other end of the phone.

"Woojin? Did you make your decision so quickly?"

Kang Woo-jin, still laughing, responded with the words 'No-Fuck-Care.'

"Yes. I'll do it, the protagonist."

.

.

End