GalaxyTL
Trembling.
Ja-un’s fingers shook. It felt as though if he only tightened his grip, he could cut through, but it wasn’t that easy.
Killing a person isn’t simple.
To slice through skin and muscle, to break bone, is not an easy task.
‘No, that’s not it.’
It was an easy task.
Breaking a mere bone wasn’t difficult at all.
So what was making his fingertips tremble?
“Are you truly going to sever the natural order?”
The destiny that required Ja-un to cut this blood tie made his body quake.
To survive, he had to kill the parent he should honor for giving him life and raising him.
The harsh fate crashed over him like waves.
“How can you be so brazen, having killed my mother over some superstition?”
Though the blade was pressed against his father’s neck, his father didn’t so much as blink.
He even seemed to take some enjoyment from the situation.
“Cheonsalseong is no superstition.”
Those words, spoken with a faint smile, cut through Ja-un.
“How could it be a superstition, when so many born under Cheonsal’s command…”
For such a ridiculous reason,
was he really planning to obstruct the future of a child who hadn’t even grown up yet?
That was his father’s death warrant.
From left to right,
a diagonal slash divided his father in two.
Even though it was the first sword he’d ever held,
the talent of Cheonsal led him to perfect swordsmanship.
Thud.
The sound that just dropped—was it the sound of his father’s corpse?
Or was it the thread of fate that he could never return to?
“If this was going to be the outcome, why did you raise me at all?”
The question he never managed to voice finally came out belatedly.
If he had to die so pitifully,
why didn’t he kill him right after his mother?
Why teach him to avoid people
and build a home deep in the mountains?
Why talk about morals, of all things,
when he could barely read?
A mix of resentment and longing swirled in the air, scattering like smoke.
The severed blood tie was beyond repair, so where was he supposed to go now?
“Boy, you’re a Cheonsalseong.”
A voice sounded from behind.
He hadn’t noticed someone approaching,
lost in grief as he was.
Slash!
Ja-un’s sword moved again.
The destiny of Cheonsal had begun.
Even though he’d never learned swordsmanship,
Ja-un’s sword moved in an arc designed to kill.
Clang!
But it stopped.
The cheap sword, which had already been damaged from killing one man, failed him.
“After killing just one person, you’re already unhesitant for the next.”
This is Cheonsalseong, indeed.
The man, muttering to himself, twisted Ja-un’s wrist ever so slightly.
“Ugh!”
Thud.
Ja-un’s sword twisted from his grip and fell.
“I wondered why I kept hearing noises. Turns out there was a treasure hidden here.”
The man stroked his mane-like hair and extended his hand to Ja-un.
“I am Geomnimju, the Great Swordsman of Cheonsal.”
It’s only fitting for people with the same fate to band together.
What do you say?
At his words, Ja-un looked around.
There lay his father’s split body, reeking of blood,
and this unknown man looking down at him, hand extended.
Where was he supposed to go?
There was no one who could give him the right answer.
“You were born to kill people.”
His father’s words came to mind.
‘Alright, if that’s why I was born.’
Ja-un took the Great Swordsman’s hand.
‘I’ll live as you said I should.’
For the mother who lost her life to a superstition,
he vowed to survive to the end.
+++++
‘As expected of a historical drama, it feels completely different.’
After immersing myself, I glanced down at the script.
The story of Ja-un, Baek Dong-su’s rival, from start to finish.
Even though he was a child actor, his role had significant weight.
‘Not that I haven’t had significant roles before.’
Historical dramas have long story arcs,
so just appearing in one could boost my recognition.
If I’ve become famous among teenagers through my uniform modeling,
then a historical drama could broaden my appeal to a wider age group.
Besides,
‘There’s also Solar Eclipse.’
I glanced over at the second script, Solar Eclipse.
It was a show that had made history in historical dramas with its unbelievable success.
I didn’t even need to check the rating to know its reputation.
‘And the rating isn’t a joke either.’
Solar Eclipse, A
The letter A was proudly printed there.
A monster show that reached a peak viewership of 40%,
with an average viewership exceeding 30%.
Knowing its future and passing it up would be as good as saying I wasn’t an actor.
And the role I was being offered was on another level.
‘Finally, a chance to play a good guy.’
Although some roles had been morally ambiguous,
most of the scripts so far leaned toward villains.
‘The limited roles for child actors make villain roles impactful.’
In a conservative period setting,
even if a new star appeared, it wasn’t easy to hand over the lead role right away.
So inevitably, villain roles were more common.
That’s why playing a good, young male lead felt refreshing.
“I’ll do both.”
“Huh? Are you sure you want to decide so quickly?”
If that’s the case, I’ll just do both.
Seok-ho looked worried, concerned about filming two historical dramas simultaneously.
But,
‘I have immersion and long training, so I’ll be fine.’
Physical endurance and acting were not issues for me.
“Oh, by the way, the edited version of Hero is done, and the director wants us to watch it together.”
“Really? That was fast.”
“With the Mise-en-scène Film Festival’s mid-April deadline, he wants to keep tweaking it, and he wants your input.”
Input, huh.
‘I should probably say as little as possible.’
Too many cooks spoil the broth.
‘I trust him completely, so I’ll just tell him I’m okay with it.’
One person, the director, was enough to handle film editing.
It was an indie film anyway.
Sometimes it’s better to stop editing before the movie loses its essence.
A timely stopping point could actually improve things.
‘Come to think of it, isn’t Endless Frontline also due for editing soon?’
Wait a minute.
‘So Hero and Endless Frontline will both be coming out around June or July?’
If one does well, the other will benefit too.
As I eagerly awaited their release,
Ding! Ding! Ding!
It was like Sims - The Real Life was reminding me not to forget about it.
The notifications were relentless.
The messages read:
It was practically telling me to deliver a perfect performance as Ja-un.
+++++
By late March,
the Mise-en-scène Short Film Festival was consuming short films like a whale,
one of Korea’s representative short film festivals since 2002.
Films were divided into five sections by genre,
judged by specialists who evaluated and discovered new talents.
The judges were active in commercial film and some aimed to find new actors.
Among them was:
“…Honestly, I’m here for Dong-hoo.”
It was Kang Sang-hoon, a director with a shiny Guan Yu mustache.
“You all haven’t seen our Dong-hoo act, right? Come to the preview. He’s truly amazing.”
A true lover of film, he volunteered as a judge even while filming his own movie.
Why? To discover new talent, of course!
But he’d already found one.
‘The thought alone makes me smile.’
Director Kang boasted about Kim Dong-hoo endlessly to fellow directors,
talking about his emotional range, his action skills, stamina, and dedication.
His enthusiasm was like a great-grandfather’s doting on his first grandson.
“Alright, alright, stop bragging. We all know Kim Dong-hoo’s a great actor.”
Naturally, his fellow directors found his bragging a bit much.
Seeing his performance in High Dream would make anyone want to cast him.
“You all should work with our Dong-hoo sometime. But I’ll take his first screen debut, of course.”
Kang Sang-hoon was thrilled about this truth he’d just shared.
Proud to have launched a super rookie on the big screen for the first time,
he imagined the future awards and success to come!
Just thinking about it made him want to dance.
But then.
“…What the? Hero? Isn’t that Kim Dong-hoo’s name on here?”
“What?”
A colleague’s words sent a shock through the room.
“What do you mean? Why would Kim Dong-hoo appear in an indie film?”
Another actor with the same name? That’s impossible!
Director Kang stood up, his mustache flaring with disbelief.
No, it wasn’t something he wanted to believe.
“I’m serious. It’s written right here on the DVD. Hero, starring Kim Dong-hoo.”
The DVD even had Dong-hoo’s face on the cover.
The colleague, almost teasing, hit play on the Hero DVD.
“No… He has to debut on my screen…”
Why was he there, on that black-and-white screen?
Thunk.
That day, Director Kang Sang-hoon’s world came crashing down.