Chapter 272: Chapter 272 - All Time (3)

Translator: Dreamscribe

The rating of ‘The Eerie Sacrifice of a Stranger’ was SS-grade. But now it had risen to SSS-grade. This change must have been due to the alteration of the ending. Soon, Kang Woojin grinned and murmured.

“See this, this. Changing the ending was the right answer. Damn- I can’t even brag about this anywhere.”

As much as he wanted to spread the news all over, he held back. At the same time, he felt a thrill.

“It feels pretty damn good.”

There were two reasons. First, it was a result achieved by Kang Woojin, not thanks to the void space. Second, he was relieved that it had turned around from possibly dropping to A-grade or even B-grade.

Even if he pretended not to care, he was secretly worried.

As a result, Kang Woojin gained about three things. He protected Kiyoshi, obtained an SSS-grade rating, and boosted his self-esteem as an actor. Though he didn’t realize it himself, it was a significant harvest.

Especially, his growth in his attitude as an actor.

Anyway, ‘The Eerie Sacrifice of a Stranger’ became SSS-grade today. But what does that mean? Woojin, who was smiling, tilted his head slightly.

”The Eerie Sacrifice of a Stranger’ is released in both Korea and Japan, right?’

Is the rating combined for both countries, or is it separate? It’s confusing. Then Kang Woojin stopped thinking. Well, no matter how much he worries, how could he understand the void space?

“It’ll work out somehow.”

Woojin quickly erased the thought and suddenly clapped his hands together! Because he remembered something he had been looking forward to.

“Ah! The result of ‘Island of the Missing’!”

Today was Sunday, the 23rd. Meaning, yesterday, Saturday the 22nd, was the first weekend for ‘Island of the Missing’. And by now, the result must have been out.

Then.

“Exit!”

Woojin’s vision quickly changed to the hotel room. Kang Woojin, ignoring his disheveled hair, swiftly grabbed the phone near the pillow.

“A lot of messages have come in.”

There were already quite a few missed calls, messages, and texts. He could predict the content without even looking. But Kang Woojin accessed something else.

The official domestic box office site.

-[KOPIC Integrated Movie Ticket System]

The result soon appeared before Woojin’s eyes.

[May 22, 2021 Audience Count]

[Daily Domestic Box Office]

1. Island of the Missing / Release Date: May 19 / Audience: 971,558 / Screens: 1159 / Cumulative Audience: 3,254,234

The Saturday result of ‘Island of the Missing’. The daily audience count was staggering. Kang Woojin’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“Are you serious?!”

Although it was the weekend, the daily audience count was almost 1 million.

“1 million in one day?!”

‘Island of the Missing’ was rewriting the history of the Korean film industry.

Later.

Woojin, who had finished showering with a shoulder dance, adeptly switched to his concept mode. Then he checked the messages exploding on his phone.

All were congratulatory messages. Or shocked ones.

Of course, there were also congratulatory bombings on Kang Woojin’s official SNS and ‘Kang Woojin’s Alter Ego’ channel. But it was only the fifth day since release. There was still a long way to go. Because of that, Woojin tried to suppress his rising grin. But it didn’t work well.

Is this the feeling?

The thought that he might achieve the glorious title of ’10 million viewer actor’, which he had only seen on TV, made Woojin’s mood skyrocket.

Around this time, Choi Sung-gun came to pick up Kang Woojin.

Trying hard to maintain a poker face, Woojin saw Choi Sung-gun flashing a big smile.

“Hehehe, you saw it too, right? Almost 1 million in one day yesterday.”

“Yes, CEO~nim. I saw it.”

“You rascal! Hitting 1 million daily viewers is rare even in the history of Korean cinema! You should feel elated! Like this, come on, do a little shoulder dance! Should I do it for you??”

Choi Sung-gun suddenly started Talchum in the hotel hallway. Or was it just a freestyle dance? Kang Woojin desperately held back his laughter and urge to join in the freestyle dance.

“CEO~nim, people are watching.”

“It’s because you’re too calm! I did it for you.”

Gradually, team members gathered around Woojin. A dozen people including the burly Jang Su-hwan and the short-haired Han Ye-jung. All of them marveled at the rapid success of ‘Island of the Missing’ as soon as they met.

“3 million viewers in just 4 days? This is seriously insane! The hype is real, seriously!!”

“Korea is turned upside down right now. Our company even informed us about it, but even if you just go into any community or YouTube, it’s all about ‘Island of the Missing’.”

“Is, is this really going to surpass the total audience of ‘Sea Battle’?? How much was that? 16 million?”

“Exactly 16.7 million, I think? But it’s already surpassing the current daily progress, right?”

“It’s a long-distance marathon, so we should wait and see, but it’s already a huge hit!”n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Listening quietly to their excitement, Choi Sung-gun with his ponytail smirked and chimed in.

“3 million is just a taste. All tickets for ‘Island of the Missing’ are sold out today, Sunday. Something even bigger is coming, 100%.”

“Wow!! I’m totally looking forward to it!”

There was a ruckus behind him, but Kang Woojin tried to suppress his urge to dance with joy. He had already jumped around in the hotel room this morning. Honestly, it was a bit of a crisis. His lips had been twitching since earlier. Endure it, mind control is the only way.

But Han Ye-jung noticed like a ghost.

“Oppa, your mouth is twitching. You must be tired. CEO~nim, we should look for some magnesium before the shoot.”

She even mistook it for magnesium deficiency. But Kang Woojin handled it calmly.

“No, it’s not that bad.”

“Really?”

“It’s just a momentary tremor.”

Somehow, without any issues, Kang Woojin arrived at the set of ‘The Eerie Sacrifice of a Stranger’. First, he greeted Director Kyotaro. The hundred or so staff members of ‘The Eerie Sacrifice of a Stranger’ were already in a frenzy. How to put it, they were brimming with spirit today?

“Props!! When are the props coming!!”

“They’re on the way!”

“Lighting director! We need a few more reflectors here!”

“Got it!”

“Kang Woojin has arrived!”

“Get him into costume first!!”

Intense Japanese words were thrown around the wide set. The pace was gradually quickening. Japanese actors were also arriving one by one. Meanwhile, the hundred or so staff and Japanese actors didn’t forget to whisper.

The main topic of conversation was.

“Did you see the new ending?”

“Eh? It’s changing? Suddenly?”

“The director announced it this morning.”

“How is it changing?”

“Well- I’m surprised too. I’ve never seen an ending like this.”

It was the suddenly changed ending of ‘The Eerie Sacrifice of a Stranger’. It’s not uncommon for the script to be modified, but it’s very rare for the ending to be flipped like this so close to the end of filming. And it wasn’t a minor adjustment, it was the ending changing completely. Recently, most Japanese dramas and movies are live-action adaptations of manga or novels.

Changing the ending of a live-action adaptation is almost unheard of.

Moreover, the original author was Akari. So, it wasn’t strange at all for the staff and actors to have strong reactions. Especially the actors of ‘The Eerie Sacrifice of a Stranger’ were quite flustered. Noticeably so.

“Ah, no matter what, Kiyoshi living happily…is this really okay?”

“If the director decided, the actors should just go along with it. But- it’s a bit. No, it’s very worrisome. When it releases, there’ll be quite a bit of noise.”

“Noise? That would be lucky! At this level, original fans will probably come at us! Of course, I understand the new ending fits Kiyoshi better…but it’s a bit scary. This is the first time in Japan for such an ending.”

“In the past and in the future, our work might be unique. Enjoy it.”

“Crazy! But is Kang Woojin okay? Why does he look so calm? When it releases, the direct hits will be on Woojin or the director.”

“He’s always like that, isn’t he? But it’s surprising that he’s not shaken at all.”

However, Kang Woojin, preparing for the shoot, was calm. No, he even looked composed. Among the hundred or so people gathered on the set, he was the only one. No tension, no fear, no anguish, no anxiety.

“……”

Inside the filming zone, Kang Woojin was just as he had been yesterday. Or a month ago. Or even several months ago.

Soon, the filming of ‘The Eerie Sacrifice of a Stranger’ resumed with everything set.

“Hi- cue!!”

With Director Kyotaro’s signal, Kang Woojin began the first scene of the day. It was a solo scene that connected with a previously shot cut. Short dialogue and subtle eye movements were crucial.

And he had to portray an even more intense ’emptiness’ on his face.

Though it was quite a challenging scene, Kang Woojin pulled it off effortlessly. As a result, he quickly received an OK, and the shoot proceeded rapidly with a few changes in angles. Kang Woojin’s shoots were always like this.

“Again, Woojin-ssi has no NGs today.”

“Sometimes it’s scary, you know, wondering how a person can be this perfect.”

“As an actor, his attitude and demeanor are already at a global level.”

Just like the Japanese-speaking staff of ‘The Eerie Sacrifice of a Stranger’ whispered, Kang Woojin rarely had NGs. If there were any, they were due to staff errors or issues with the co-actors.

Next up was.

“Mana Kosaku-ssi!! Standby!!”

It was Mana Kosaku, who played the lazy detective ‘Yoshizawa Mochio’, was next. With a slightly shabby jacket, stubble on his chin, and a cigarette in his mouth, Mana Kosaku transformed into Detective ‘Yoshizawa Mochio’ and stepped onto the set. It was made to look like the inside of a police station.

-Swoosh.

Today, the scene he was to shoot was quite tense. In fact, all the scenes shot today were like that.

“Hi- action!”

At Director Kyotaro’s signal, Detective Mochio, or Kosaku, sitting in front of a computer, folded his arms and let out a long sigh.

“Hmm- Iyota Kiyoshi.”

Taking a long drag on his cigarette, the smoke lingered in his lungs before being exhaled through his mouth.

The camera, filming Detective Mochio’s face, then shared his gaze, focusing on the monitor. A profile appeared. It was Iyota Kiyoshi’s. Detective Yoshizawa Mochio sensed the presence of the ‘stranger’.

Of course, it wasn’t easy.

Realizing Kiyoshi’s existence came from the past. Whose past? The people who suddenly died in a chain reaction.

People who died sequentially, as if orchestrated.

Konakayama Ginzo, Misaki Shutoku, Horinochi Amie. And the most recent, a woman named Iiya Saki found in a car that fell into the sea. They were all connected. Not in the present, but in the past.

The common link was the school.

Except for Misaki Shutoku, they all graduated from the same high school. This made Detective Mochio feel uneasy. People from the same school dying in a row? There must be a hidden story.

Mochio focused more on their past.

Then he found.

“A female student took her own life.”

A student’s suicide incident. Of course, it happened at that high school. Her name was Misaki Toka. Wait? Misaki? Yes. Misaki Shutoku was that girl’s father.

What the hell is this?

The more he dug, the more absurd facts surfaced. The deceased were from a high school with a past suicide case. The girl’s father. That father recently killed Konakayama Ginzo and then jumped himself. Everything was connected to Misaki Toka.

Detective Mochio tracked down the teachers and students from the time of Toka’s incident.

Naturally, most were passive or annoyed.

There was no significant gain.

But luckily, he could hear a bit about the past from a few.

“Misaki Toka was severely bullied.”

Her bullies. He didn’t need to find them. He couldn’t find them. They were already dead. The sequential deaths. Those bullies were dying now.

Detective Mochio first thought of the word ‘revenge’.

‘But isn’t it strange?’

Toka was already dead. Her father, Misaki Shutoku, was also dead. Then who was orchestrating these serial incidents now? Had Misaki Toka really come back to life?

Around that time.

“Actually, the first one who got bullied was Iyota- I can’t remember the exact name, but it must be right, Iyota Kiyoshi. He was the first.”

“Who?”

“Iyota Kiyoshi. I remember he was a bit close to Toka.”

The first time the ‘Stranger’ showed itself to Detective Mochio.

On the night of the 24th, after the weekend.

A little away from the city center of Tokyo Station. It was the rooftop of a relatively tall building. Though it was a dark night, one filming crew was quite busy. They were laying rails, setting up lights, placing monitors, and raising reflectors.

It was the ‘The Eerie Sacrifice of a Stranger’ team, with only a few days left until the crank-up.

“Careful! Be careful!”

“If there’s not enough space, don’t force it! Move as safely as possible!”

Due to the limited space, not all the staff came up. About 30 people were there, only key staff from each team. Director Kyotaro, wearing a hat, was checking various monitors and the shooting continuity in front of him.

Two actors were displayed on the monitors.

One was Kang Woojin, receiving makeup touch-ups under the lights. The other was the Japanese actor playing the role of the conglomerate heir ‘Tsuzuki Itsuma’. In the script, Tsuzuki Itsuma was a character with strong backing from the family owning a mid-sized company and had killed Horinochi Amie because of the recorder received from Kiyoshi.

This cut was the end point for both characters.

Specifically, the end point for Iyota Kiyoshi.

In a secluded part of the set, Choi Sung-gun was smiling as he showed his phone to a few Japanese actor staff. It felt distinctly like he was boasting.

And indeed, he was boasting.

The article on Choi Sung-gun’s phone was:

『[Movieis] Island of the Missing, 1 million viewers in one day on Sunday… Total of 5 million cumulative viewers so far!』

Of course, it was a Korean article, and Choi Sung-gun explained it to the Japanese staff. Although his Japanese was awkward, it was understandable.

“Yesterday, on Sunday alone, the audience was 1 million. Including today’s count, it seems it will surpass 5 million.”

“Hasn’t it just been released?”

“Today is the sixth day.”

The eyes of the staff, including the actor’s manager, widened in disbelief.

“What??!! 5 million on the sixth day??!”

“No way!! Is that true??”

At that moment.

“Standby!!”

The call for the start of filming spread. About 3 minutes later.

“Action!”

Kang Woojin, or rather, Kiyoshi, was silently looking down at ‘Tsuzuki Itsuma’ lying on the ground. Itsuma was already a corpse. This corpse was the last of the ‘homework’.

In other words, the ‘Eerie Sacrifices’ were over.

“All done.”

It was finally back to square one.

*****