The Haunted Monster Actor - Chapter 4



Only Krnovel

Episode 4

Kim Yun-mi, who had finished editing the script, got up from her sluggish state.

“By the way, author, it seemed like you were going somewhere in a hurry earlier. Where did you go?”

In response to Kim Yun-mi’s question, Seo Mi-so, a fellow assistant writer and junior, raised her head and answered.

“Well, he suddenly came out of the room and hurriedly left with the manuscript.”

“Manuscript? What manuscript?”

“This is the first appearance of Lee Ji-woon, who finished writing today.”

“Oh, really?”

Kim Yun-mi nodded while taking a sip of coffee, then suddenly remembered something and asked Seo Mi-so.

“But how did you manage to take away the manuscript that wasn’t even finished yet?”

Seo Mi-so’s face turned red with embarrassment at Kim Yun-mi’s unexpected words.

“Huh? Didn’t you say earlier that it was finished? That you finished the review too… … .”

“I said I wanted to finish it quickly and leave work, when did I?”

“Huh?! Then, that thing that was on top of the printer over there… …?”

“That one didn’t print well, so I left it to use on the back of the paper, ha.”

Soon, Kim Yun-mi and Seo Mi-so’s sad faces faced each other.

“It’s ruined.”

“Call the author, quickly!”

At Kim Yun-mi’s words, Seo Mi-so stomped her feet and grabbed the phone urgently.

“Oh, what should I do, sis? The writer isn’t answering the phone right now. I think he’s in a meeting at the site.”

“… … This is crazy. Where did you say the scene was?”

“Yeongdeungpo. Are you going there in person?”

“If I don’t go, who will take care of the aftermath?”

* * *

“We’ll start testing the camera soon, so come out when you’re ready.”

Kim Hyun-soo took a deep breath and opened the ‘script manuscript’ that Ko Eun-joo had handed him once more.

“Come to think of it, I guess I should have asked.”

I was told by the staff to come out when I was ready, but in reality, I wasn’t ready at all.

That would be the case, because the manuscript that Eun-ju Ko handed over had no dialogue written after the first few lines of text.

Why did Eun-joo Ko hand over a ‘blank manuscript’?

‘Are you asking me to do some kind of free acting?’

I stood in the center of the scene where the camera was set up, thinking about various things.

Whatever the intention, the fact remains that he has to show something here.

As I looked around, I saw PD Yoo Jong-seok sitting in the center of a makeshift table set up in front.

The lead actress Joo In-ah and writer Ko Eun-joo are sitting on either side of him, and all the staff members are also surrounding Hyun-soo and looking at him with curiosity.

Everyone’s eyes are focused solely on him.

‘To see my acting.’

Suddenly I realized.

The fact that at this moment, in this space, there is no one else but you.

A seat prepared only for Hyunsoo.

So, in fact, there is nothing to prepare for.

Because he is someone who has always prepared for this moment.

“I’m ready.”

PD Yoo Jong-seok nodded and gave the camera director an autograph.

“Standby—Q.”

As soon as the director gave the cue, Hyun-soo closed his eyes on the spot.

Hyunsoo recalled a single line of text written on a blank sheet of paper.

[The man in the dark is walking towards somewhere.]

Finally, there is a scene that comes to Hyun-soo’s mind.

I don’t know if it was a coincidence, but the content of the few lines of text is similar to the situation I experienced in the dream I had before standing here now.

The surroundings are darkened.

At this moment, the being standing in the darkness is not Kim Hyun-soo.

There is just someone walking in the darkness.

‘Someone’ started to walk.

The unclear pace, neither slow nor fast, making it difficult to read the tempo, is at the same time clearly moving towards something.

Why is the surrounding area made up of only black and white?

In fact, ‘Kim Hyun-soo’ cannot understand that such a world exists.

However, I have no choice but to completely accept it.

I leave everything to the unknown emotions that pull at my steps.

This strange feeling that rises from the depths of my heart… … resembles interest.

It feels like joy.

Or towards both… …

It’s ‘desire’.

‘No, can this even be called emotion in the first place?’

This is more of a… … than an emotion.

‘instinct.’

Yeah, it’s instinct.

I know from the beginning that the world you and I live in is different.

The way we perceive this world.

How to live.

The direction in which we are moving forward.

‘It’s completely different.’

So this is an instinct.

Now, Hyunsoo could understand more clearly something that had settled inside him.

It was simply an instinct for survival.

‘God made me different from you from birth.’

So this is a struggle to prove my ‘life’ to him.

‘Are you watching?’

Hyunsoo took another step.

‘Can you see me?’

The upright and straight gait is strangely distorted somewhere.

One more step.

One more step.

One step.

One step.

One step.

After walking a few steps, I arrived.

‘Father. Are you really… seeing me?’

Hyunsoo saw two preparations to prove his world before his eyes.

‘sharp.’

and.

‘A fragile thing.’

Father and mother.

Hyunsoo spoke, taking the extremes of sharpness and weakness to the extremes of fragility.

“You dropped your pen.”

The cut sign didn’t even fall.

* * *

Eun-ju Ko looked at the sharp pen tip that had stopped in front of her eyes and realized something new.

‘So the nib of a pen was originally this sharp.’

If you move just a few centimeters from there, the entire area around you will be covered in red ink.

The pen I held in my hand every day to write has now become the ugliest thing I’ve ever seen.

Kim Hyun-soo made it like that.

Eun-ju Ko thought with a blank expression.

‘When did I drop my pen?’

Eun-ju Ko slowly recalled her memories from just a moment ago.

That’s right. While I was watching Kim Hyun-soo’s acting, I suddenly felt an inexplicable creepiness and ended up dropping the pen I was holding.

No, it was more than just creepy, it was a kind of ‘disgust’.

It’s like the instinctive fear we feel when we see a species different from our own.

‘Acting…? Can that be called acting?’

I can’t really put my finger on it, but something is different.

Nothing was revealed in his calm gait and indifferent face as he walked towards her.

His expression and eyes were directed at her, but she could not read anything.

He just walked.

As I approached, I was overwhelmed.

I can’t quite figure out what that overwhelming feeling is.

That’s why I’m scared.

Because originally, humans were most afraid of the ‘unknown’.

One thing was clear.

The smoke just now was… … .

‘It was different from the kind of acting I knew.’

It was completely different from the acting that Go Eun-joo had known until now.

Eun-joo Ko, who had gathered her thoughts, continued speaking to Hyun-soo Kim.

“Let me ask you just one thing.”

“Yes, author.”

“Can I ask why you went without an ambassador?”

Rather, it was Kim Hyun-soo who looked embarrassed at Ko Eun-joo’s question.

“Huh? Well, there wasn’t any dialogue in the original manuscript.”

“Huh? What is that… … .”

Instead of answering, Hyunsoo took out the ‘blank manuscript’ he had in his bosom and handed it to her.

It was then that someone came running into the set with an anxious look on their face.

“Author!”

“Yunmi? Why are you here… …?”

Eun-ju Ko tilted her head and soon saw something in Yun-mi Kim’s hand.

“that……?”

What Kim Yun-mi brought was none other than the ‘script manuscript.’

“Hey, this! You took the wrong one!”

“You took the wrong one? What do you mean… … ?”

Eun-ju Ko looked at the manuscripts handed over by Hyun-soo Kim and Yun-mi Kim with a puzzled look on her face.

Eun-ju Ko, who soon realized something, looked at the manuscript Hyun-soo Kim handed her with a bewildered expression.

‘There’s no dialogue written… … ?’

It’s exactly as Kim Hyun-soo said.

The manuscript was completely blank, except for a few lines of text.

“So that acting just now… was just acting with a few lines of fingerprints?”

Eun-ju Ko burst into laughter with a blank expression and asked Hyun-soo Kim.

“You… … Who the hell are you?”

There was only one answer that could be given.

“I am an actor.”

* * *

“What do you all think?”

Yoo Jong-seok nodded and said in response to Go Eun-joo’s question.

“It’s raw, but it’ll be fun.”

This time, Eun-joo Ko turned her head towards Joo-in-ah.

“Isn’t it an adventure? I’ll leave it up to you two to decide.”

In short, the decision was up to Eun-joo Ko.

Certainly, as Yoo Jong-seok said, Hyun-soo’s acting had a raw feel to it.

Casting Hyun-soo in such a situation could be a risk.

‘It wasn’t acting at the level of simply imitating someone.’

It was acting as if I was that ‘someone’.

Acting beyond expression.

Even among veteran actors, it was a high level of acting that only actors who have reached a high level can show… … .

‘Kim Hyun-soo’s acting was different from that.’

“Raw smoke… … .”

Eun-ju Ko tapped her pen on the table, lost in thought.

Perhaps, that might be the most anticipated aspect of the character created by Go Eun-joo.

“If given the right character and lines, aren’t you excited to see what kind of acting you’ll show?”

At Ko Eun-joo’s words, Yoo Jong-seok and Joo In-ah nodded at the same time.

Eun-joo Ko, who had gathered her thoughts, asked Hyun-soo Kim.

In fact, the choice was decided from the beginning.

“Let me get to the point. I would like Hyunsoo to join me in this production.”

“… … ?”

Kim Hyun-soo received his first casting offer in his acting career.

“Isn’t casting finished?”

This is a drama that has already started filming.

Casting for the main and supporting roles has probably already been completed.

Soon Hyun-soo understood the situation.

“It seems like a pretty important supporting role.”

That means he’d like to be given a supporting role with more weight than he has now, even if it’s not a leading or supporting role.

Eun-ju Ko shook her head and let out a small laugh at Hyun-soo Kim’s words.

“It’s a supporting role.”

“……yes?”

“I would like Hyunsoo to play the role of Lee Ji-woon, the main villain and antagonist of this drama.”

Lee Ji-woon… … ?

If it’s Lee Ji-woon, Hyun-soo knows it well too.

The main villain of this drama, a character who opposes the main character Jin Young-mi throughout the entire drama, and who, as the title of the drama suggests, “When You Are Dyed in the Darkness,” causes Jin Young-mi to fall into a swamp.

“But if it’s the role of Lee Ji-woon, then the actor who has already been cast… … .”

“Oh, there are some circumstances that make it difficult to talk about here. So, are you going to do it or not?”

Do you receive offers to replace actors for roles that have already been cast?

Even as a supporting actor?

It was an unrealistic situation that was difficult for Hyunsoo to understand with common sense.

Nevertheless, from the beginning there was only one choice.

“I will do it.”

Eun-ju Ko nodded.

“I was going to force it on you even if you refused.”

―――

*Antagonist: A character in a work who has an opposing or hostile relationship with the main character.

Continued in the next episode