Chapter 222: Sacrifice (3)

Translator: Dreamscribe

Ravage? Ogimoto Yasutaro flinched, barely gathering his senses. (TL: Ravage = r*pe)

Then.

-Whoosh!

Yasutaro, with his long but disheveled hair, forcefully held back a heavy feeling of needing to urinate. He then desperately reviewed the script he had hammered into his mind. Let’s proceed. Open your mouth. Move your body.

‘Huh?’

Suddenly, the handsome Yasutaro realized that his body had stiffened. The trembling was due to the cold. However, the stiffness in every joint was not due to that. It was then that Yasutaro realized he had been overwhelmed by the momentum.

By Kang Woojin’s restrained aura, even his acting shrunk back.

There were several reasons why Yasutaro suddenly felt a heavy urge to urinate. First, it was this eerie filming location. The sky growing dark, the sinister fishing village, the silent sea, and him on the floating boat.

That alone was enough to feel a sense of crisis.

But what made Yasutaro hesitate the most was.

“……”

Kang Woojin, no, Iyota Kiyoshi, who was intently looking at him now. The old wooden boat was narrow. Even at its widest point, if one stretched out their arms, they could reach the sides. Therefore, the gaze and expressions of Woojin in front were clearly etched into Yasutaro’s eyes.

Kang Woojin was now a blank.

His facial features were merely decorations. Just proof that what hung above the neck was indeed a face, nothing more, nothing less. Woojin was looking at Yasutaro, but it was insufficient. He breathed, but the sound was faint. His upper and lower lips are also calmly overlapping.

How could he form such an expression? Nothing could be read from it.

An expression showing not a drop of emotion. Dry.

Yet, this dried-out look completed the scene. It maximized the eeriness and strangeness of the environment. In reality, it was Woojin across from him who was causing Yasutaro to feel the urge to urinate. Every time Yasutaro made eye contact with Woojin, who was sitting quietly close by, he clearly felt something tingling in his lower abdomen.

‘His eyes are dead… no, it’s acting. It’s acting. I just have to do mine. The next part. Somehow.’

Yasutaro unfolded the next movement with difficulty.

-Swish.

He looks at Kang Woojin sitting quietly at the end of the wooden boat. He looks down. He checks his own state. He’s barefoot. Dressed in a shirt and suit trousers, but without the suit jacket he had been wearing. Soon, Yasutaro’s pupils dilated. The camera on the right side of the boat captured this closely.

Then.

-Creak.

The wooden boat with unknown man attached itself right next to the boat Yasutaro was on, and the boats collided, making a dull noise.

-Thud!

Naturally, Yasutaro’s head turned. On the boat that had just collided, there was a man who looked like a homeless person, chewing gum. He sneered. Yasutaro, no, Ginzo, felt the tremors in his body intensify twice over.

Then he turned his face straight towards Kang Woojin, or rather, Iyota Kiyoshi, and shouted.

“Ra-Ravage!! Don’t say something that doesn’t make sense!!!”

“……”

The camera captured both of their side profile, and the expressionless

Woojin blinked his eyes nonchalantly a couple of times before speaking.

“It’ll work out. Ginzo, you just have to leave your body to him.”

“Wait, wait, wait! That’s not what I meant!!”

“You already have experience too. I heard you had a lover while you were in prison.”

“……”

With widened eyes, Ginzo made his last desperate move. He lunged at Kiyoshi. Due to this, the boat they were on rocked violently. However, it was futile.

-Smack!!

“Aargh!!!”

Before Ginzo could do anything, Kiyoshi had swiftly struck his throat. The speed was impressive, and Ginzo helplessly collapsed onto the wooden boat, coughing. As Ginzo’s coughing sounds faded, he changed his attitude by 180 degrees.

“Huk! Huuuh… Please, spare me! I’ll do anything! Spare me!!”

Tears and snot flowing, Ginzo desperately grasped Kiyoshi’s ordinary shoes with both hands, pleading. However, Kiyoshi’s dry voice tone remained unchanged.

“I haven’t said anything about killing you yet.”

“Wait, could it be! Matsu-chan! No, are you Tsukasa’s husband?! Ah! My mistake!! Never again! I won’t meet her until I die!!”

“Tsukasa. Ah- Matsu Tsukasa from the accounting team at your company? Your current lover.”

In other words, he was talking about the affair.

“But you guessed wrong. You really don’t remember me, do you?”

“I’m sorry! It’s all my fault! Please, spare my life! I beg you!!”

It was then.

-Swish.

Someone caressed the head of the prostrate Ginzo. It was the hand of the homeless-looking man on the boat next to him. Startled by this, Ginzo screamed in horror.

“Hiik!! Anything! I’ll do anything!! Just let me live!! Please, please!!!”

His screams echoed ominously across the entire sea. Meanwhile, Kang Woojin remained calm.

“Like I said, I haven’t said anything about killing you yet. Ginzo start by greeting him.”

“Ah, no. That’s!”

“Why? You’ll be entangled with each other anyway, so isn’t it good to get friendly.”

The homeless-looking man, who was constantly smiling, spat out the gum he was chewing towards Ginzo! Ginzo shook violently as if he had been shot. This scene was vividly captured by several cameras, and Kiyoshi, looking down at Ginzo with lifeless eyes, slightly leaned forward.

“Ginzo. Do you remember Toka? Misaki Toka.”

Ginzo flinched. Something flashed through his trembling mind, and his body and mouth froze. This lasted for about 5 seconds. Then he slowly lifted his head and made eye contact with Kang Woojin’s eyes. Ginzo trembled with his lips and screamed out.

“That, that’s right!! You! Youyou! Kiyoshi! Iyota Kiyoshi!!”

It was at that moment.

“Cut.”

Director Kyotaro’s gentle volice spread across the entire sea, where a special mist was spreading out for special effects.

“NG, let’s do it again.”

Several minutes later.

The dock, which was the filming location for ‘The Eerie Sacrifice of a Stranger’, was bustling with dozens of staff preparing for a reshoot. Kang Woojin was off the boat, getting makeup touch-ups from the makeup team, and Yasutaro was receiving direction from Director Kyotaro Tanoguchi near the monitor.

First shooting, first scene, first NG.

It started with Yasutaro, who played Ginzo. Of course, the staff had a slightly different opinion.

“Wasn’t Ogimoto’s acting just now pretty good? It looked fine to me.”

“Me too. I thought it came out well quality-wise— well, our eyes and the director’s eyes are different.”

In fact, there was a lot of talk that Yasutaro’s acting skills seemed better than usual. However, it was not the tension that Director Kyotaro wanted.

“Ogimoto, your emotions stood out. But there was too much excessiveness. It would be better if you toned it down.”

“…Understood.”

“Spread the emotions but compress the tone. Right now, it looks too much like ‘I am acting.'”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, it was the first cut after all.”

Kyotaro Tanoguchi, a master director in Japan, included a lot of things in this production of ‘The Eerie Sacrifice of a Stranger’. One of them was his desire to revolutionize the Japanese acting scene. The Japanese entertainment industry, which has become rotten beyond just being old. The domestic market was so tough that even the directors gave up on change, and as a result, all Japanese actors ended up doing stereotypical acting.

Screaming loudly, being excessive, or overacting.

The exaggerated and eye-catching acting might seem explosive at first glance, but it’s really no different from just running amok in an empty space. That was Director Tanoguchi’s philosophy.

‘Such acting might resonate in the ears, but it can’t truly touch the heart.’

Due to this, the current state of Japanese acting, while passable domestically, was predominantly criticized internationally. It went beyond mere likes and dislikes. That’s why Japanese content had issues creating a craze like the Korean wave.

In contrast, how was Kang Woojin just now?

Without any shouts or screams, he delivered his lines in the same tone and dominated the scene. He swallowed up Yasutaro with his first line. He brought out his presence into the camera.

‘That is true resonance and delivery.’

The murmurs of the staff hurrying to prepare for the reshoot also clearly proved it.

“But Woojin’s acting is······I don’t know. Doesn’t it feel different?”

“Ye, yeah, it’s hard to see it as acting?”

“Right.”

“But it’s strange. He was speaking softly, yet I heard him very clearly.”

Indeed, anyone watching this scene would focus solely on Kang Woojin. Yasutaro was merely a sacrifice. However, Director Kyotaro Tanoguchi, as a director, did not want such a form. A film cannot soar with just one actor standing out. The harmony of everyone was important.

Therefore, not only Kang Woojin but also Yasutaro had to wake up.

Then, the second signal for the same scene spread.

“Action!”

Starting again from the beginning. Yasutaro developed a bit of restraint and showed improvement, but still did not meet Director Tanoguchi’s expectations. Thus, another NG. Re-action. The scene repeated. Around the fourth shooting, when yet another NG was called, Yasutaro sighed without realizing.

“Sigh.”

It was because he was in the dark.

‘What is it? What’s the problem?’

Neither the lines nor the emotions were wrong. His acting also transformed accordingly to match to the director’s direction. But the result was the same. Gradually, darkness fell over the handsome face of Yasutaro.

Pressure. And a sense of frustration.

A massive pressure was felt. Yasutaro couldn’t grasp what was lacking. It was disgusting. Not because of the situation.

‘······Was I this lacking?’

It was because his own lack of capacity haunted him. Yasutaro took a deep breath quietly. Then, he glanced at Director Tanoguchi, who was deeply discussing something with his staff. Was it an emergency because of him?

It was the fifth re-action from the first scene.

Filming required momentum. But from the first shoot, it was halted, especially because of him. Yasutaro clenched his teeth unnoticeably while on the wooden boat.

Watching him, Kang Woojin, who had a poker face, observed quietly. At the same time, he thought.

‘Sigh- he seems a bit out of breath? Is this guy okay?’

A vague worry arose because he seemed short of breath. Then, he spoke in a low Japanese, assuming a tough demeanor.

“Ogimoto ssi, take a little break.”

“What?”

“A break. Slow down.”

“…”

Woojin meant to suggest that Yasutaro should regulate his breathing, and he also thought the artificial fog sprayed around the boat might be problematic.

‘The stuff they spray with machines isn’t good to breathe in.’

But then, the handsome Yasutaro suddenly realized something.

‘…A break? Does he mean to give more space between lines? Because they are too fast? To delay stress points and insert the character’s turmoil?’

Soon, Yasutaro reflected on his acting and asked Woojin.

“Was I too hasty?”

He was asking about his acting. Kang Woojin nodded with a cynical expression.

“Yes, you’re hasty.”

Your breathing, that is.

On the wooden boat, Kang Woojin and Yasutaro faced each other. Though close in distance, there seemed to be a misunderstanding in their conversation. They were saying different things, but there was no problem in communication. Woojin was silent, and Yasutaro slowly nodded in acknowledgment.

Am I being hasty? Well, he’s been watching me up close, so Woojin’s words must be accurate.

“Is that···so?”

Various emotions gradually surfaced in him. A faint sense of loss, jealousy, etc. Meanwhile, Woojin placed a hand on his chest and made a small gesture.

“Lift your head and take a deep breath. It will make you feel better.”

Was it a suggestion to calm down a bit? Not to get too caught up in the current mood? Yasutaro laughed quietly without realizing it. Though there wasn’t much age difference, he was far from reaching the calmness of this Korean actor.

“······Thank you.”

Soon, Yasutaro composed himself and thought. Specifically, he revisited his acting.

‘Was I too eager to throw out lines rather than conveying the emotion? As if I was being chased…’

At this point, Director Tanoguchi, watching them on the monitor, tilted his head.

“Is Woojin giving some advice? No, I don’t think Woojin is the type to do that. He’s probably just making small talk.”

The five Japanese reporters who were allowed on the set, hanging large cameras around their necks, were also buzzing as they filmed various parts of the set. Naturally, the subject was the conversation happening on the wooden boat between Kang Woojin and Yasutaro.

“Are they having some serious conversation?”

“It looks serious. Probably because the first scene has been dragging on. It’s already the fifth take, right? Since Director Kyotaro has been calling only Yasutaro, it must be his issue.”

“…I hate to admit it, but honestly, Kang Woojin has crushed Yasutaro with his acting. Yasutaro is just too ordinary. He lacks uniqueness.”

“Yeah, throughout the shooting, only Kang Woojin catches the eye. Was that serious conversation some sort of acting advice from Kang Woojin?”

“Still, it can’t be that. They haven’t known each other that long. Besides, what advice could a rookie of one year give to Yasutaro?”

“Right, it doesn’t make sense that just listening to some advice would dramatically change his acting.”

At the same time.

-Clap!

The sound from the clapperboard spread across the set. It signified the start of the fifth take. Director Kyotaro’s cue followed.

“Action!”

Once again, Kang Woojin and Yasutaro began acting. Naturally, it was the same scene. Yasutaro regained his composure. And he discovered the expressionless Kang Woojin. Normally, Yasutaro would have shown exaggerated gestures asking who he was. He had done similar in the four previous takes.

But.

“……”

This time, Yasutaro was distinctly different. He looked at Kang Woojin as if in a trance, then surveyed the foggy sea around them. He also looked down at his bare feet.

He allowed a pause in his thoughts.

After fully sensing his feelings and surroundings, Yasutaro’s pupils gradually dilated. Only then did Yasutaro and Kang Woojin exchange lines.

“It’s been a while, Ginzo.”

“Wh-who are you.”

The exclamation mark was missing from Ginzo’s tone. No exaggeration. Instead, a strange chill attached itself. At this, Director Kyotaro, who furrowed his brow and practically glued his face to the monitor, clenched his fist.

“Yes, that’s it. Ginzo should start as if his soul is drained.”

Director Kyotaro then hesitated, his gaze locking onto the expressionless Kang Woojin on the monitor.

“Ogimoto-ssi’s acting changed 180-degrees… Did Woojin really give him some advice?”

The reporters also whispered among themselves.

“Wh-what. Suddenly Yasutaro’s acting is… did he cast a spell or something?”

The conclusion was inevitably Kang Woojin.

“No, it must be Kang Woojin who must have told him something. No doubt about it.”