Chapter 2

Misunderstanding (2)

There was no sound at all. His senses were dulled. It felt as if his body was floating in the air. This was the current state of Kang Woojin.

“......”

It was hard to describe, but everything was ambiguous for him now. His consciousness was hazy. It was unclear whether he was lying down or standing. The temperature around him was also vague. Were his eyes closed? Or were they open? What was going on? What am I doing right now?

However, there was one thing.

‘Comfortable.’

The ambiguous Kang Woojin was incredibly comfortable. He wanted to stay this way forever. Then,

‘Ah.’

Kang Woojin suddenly came to his senses. No, it wasn't by his own will. It was due to something else. Something unknown woke him up. That was the feeling.

Soon,

“......uh.”

Kang Woojin, who was faintly groaning, slowly opened his eyes. It seemed he had been closing them. After a few seconds, he finally came to his senses and was momentarily dazed.

The reason was simple.

“Here... where am I?”

He had no idea where he was. Was this even a place? Even though Woojin opened his eyes, it was as if they were still closed.

It was pitch black all around.

It felt like being trapped in a completely dark room with no light. The atmosphere was such that even if he had a fear of enclosed spaces, it wouldn't be surprising.

Thanks to this, Kang Woojin suddenly stood up and shouted.

“Hey!! Kim Daeyoung!!”

“......”

But there was no response.

“Hey!! Hey!!!”

He shouted again, but it was still quiet. There wasn't even an echo. What the hell is this place? It was endlessly black, and its width was indiscernible. It felt like some kind of boundless subspace.

Anyway, at this moment,

“Hey, hey! Kim Daeyoung! Damn, what is this place!”

An overwhelming sense of unease and fear enveloped Kang Woojin. Then, Woojin recalled his memory before he got here.

“I definitely pressed some strange square.”

A square shape swirling with black and gray. Woojin had pressed it with his index finger, which was floating in the air next to the script.

“......What is this? A movie? Did I get sucked in here?!”

Soon, Kang Woojin clutched his short hair. His thoughts had stopped. No matter how he looked at it, this was reality. It couldn't be this vivid if it were a dream.

What is this subspace?

Whatever it was, the most urgent task now was to escape, not to understand its existence.

At this moment,

“Huh?”

Kang Woojin, who had turned his body, suddenly stopped. Amidst the complete darkness, a white square appeared. It was about three steps away. Was it there before? He didn't know. But he needed to check it quickly.

Soon, Kang Woojin moved quickly towards the white square.

-Swoosh.

He confirmed it up close. It was about the size of an A4 sheet. It was positioned at about chest level. It might as well have been floating. What was interesting was that

“Words?”

White words were embedded on the white square.

-[1/Script (Title: Unknown), F-Rank (Unjudgable)]

-[*The completion is very low. It is a damaged script or scenario. 100% reading is impossible. (Approximately 10% implementation possible)]

At the same time, Kang Woojin furrowed his brows.

“What is this? A damaged script? A scenario?”

The white words were all gibberish. For a moment, the word 'script' made Woojin recall something.

“......Ah, that script.”

It was the few-page script he had received from the female staff member. Thinking about it, he had been sucked into this subspace right after receiving that script. So,

“No way. This square is- that script?”

It made sense. Anyway, Kang Woojin slowly raised his hand and picked up the white square. But it didn't move.

At that moment,

-Swoosh.

Suddenly, words appeared below the white square.

-[1/Script (Title: Unknown) selected.]

-[Listing characters for reading (experience).]

-[A: Scared Man, B: Stranger]

What is this? By this point, Kang Woojin was overwhelmed with frustration and unease. He had to do something as quickly as possible.

“Damn, I don't know.”

He touched one of the floating words. It was 'A: Scared Man,' and suddenly a woman's voice echoed throughout the subspace.

[“Preparing to read ‘A: Scared Man’......”]

The tone was steady and static, almost robotic. What did it matter? It was the first human voice he had heard here. Woojin desperately shouted.

“Hey! Who's there?! There's someone here!!”

But the woman's voice gave an unexpected response.

[“......Preparation complete. It is a damaged script or scenario. The implementation rate is about 10%. Starting the reading.”]

Immediately, a large grayness enveloped Kang Woojin.

It was cold. It was strange. Clearly, the temperature had been vague until just a moment ago. But now, Kang Woojin felt a chill. Was he outside? He lowered his head. Huh?

“......!!”

It had changed. The padded jacket he had been wearing was gone, and he was now wearing a brown windbreaker. Feeling a sense of unfamiliarity, he suddenly lifted his head.

His field of vision had also changed slightly.

It was still completely dark, but faint silhouettes were visible. Trees? Were they all trees? And the leaves under his feet—were they fallen leaves?

So, was he in the mountains?

He wanted to make a sound, but it didn't come out easily. His body felt resistant. At the same time, a sound and sensation he hadn't felt before appeared.

-Swish.

A eerie wind blew, and the sound of the wind hitting the branches. The atmosphere and feeling were enough to make his whole body tremble slightly.

And,

‘Run. I have to run.’

Kang Woojin, whose eyes had adjusted to the darkness, was now overwhelmed by a certain emotion and feeling. Move. Move your feet.

Keep running, don't stop, run away.

Soon, Woojin started running abruptly. He didn't know the direction. He just started running upwards, upwards. He ignored the rapidly rising breath and the branches scratching his cheeks.

He just ran.

“Huff! Cough!”

Why? Why am I running? I don't know. I don't know, but Woojin didn't stop his hurried steps. It felt like he shouldn't. His heart was pounding faster and faster.

Yeah, I'm being chased. I'm being chased right now.

-Crunch! Crunch!

Woojin was trampling the leaves madly while constantly looking back. Fortunately, the scenery behind him remained the same. The dark mountain.

At this moment,

“Hey.”

A low male voice suddenly came from the side as Woojin looked back.

“I'm tired, stop running.”

-Splat!

Before Kang Woojin could realize what was happening, his leg was caught, and he fell to the ground. It hurt. It hurt like hell. Why did it hurt? This pain was real. The stinging sensation of blood flowing from his cheek, which had been scraped by the ground, was also real.

And,

“You're making me hungry.”

The male voice behind his back. The stranger was also real. At this moment, all Kang Woojin could do was struggle. He had no choice. This kind of experience was completely new to him.

Who would have ever experienced being chased by a stranger?

I'm going to die. For some reason, I feel like I'm going to die. Woojin struggled desperately, but it was futile. The stranger was pressing him down with his foot.

“Ugh! Huh-”

Still, Woojin's struggles didn't stop. He kept struggling, even though he was in the same spot. Dirt from the ground kept getting pushed into his nose. Conversely, water kept flowing from his eyes and nose.

I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I want to live.

Desperate emotions, frantically scratching the leaves and dirt on the ground with both hands, the sensation of being pressed down, the flowing snot and tears, the rough breathing.

Everything was real.

And,

“Yeah, I've decided. I'm going down to eat pizza.”

The clearly existing stranger laughed. At this moment, the fallen Woojin was flipped over. The stranger did this. Thanks to this, Kang Woojin, whose whole body was trembling, saw the stranger.

“......?”

He had no face. More accurately, he had a face, but it was black. A round black shape was on his neck. However, the silhouette of the stranger's body was clearly visible, albeit faintly.

At this moment,

-Poke!!

Something pierced the side of Kang Woojin's abdomen, which was lying on the ground.

“Aaaah!!!”

He didn't even know what had pierced him. It hurt like hell. The pain felt like his internal organs had been severed in one go. An indescribable agony.

Shiver, shiver, shiver.

Woojin involuntarily trembled all over. His legs trembled, and his arms and face convulsed. What kind of sensation was this? Damn, it really hurt. It was a clear reality.

Pray, yeah, pray. Beg for your life.

Woojin, whose hands were trembling, begged. He begged desperately to the black face, promising to do anything, anything, just to be saved. Even though the stranger's face showed no expression, he was still human, right?

The stranger laughed.

Damn, the face that only showed black laughed. Maybe it was due to the hope in his delusion, but it looked that way to Woojin. So, Kang Woojin forced a smile, and the next moment, something pierced his body again.

-Poke!!!

“Gah!! Aaaah!!”

At this moment,

[“Ending the reading of ‘A: Scared Man’.”]

A robotic female voice echoed.

How long had it been?

A faint voice reached the dazed Kang Woojin's ears.

“......Hey! Hey!!”

At the same time, Kang Woojin, who had the phone to his ear, slowly lifted his head. He saw three people sitting at a long table. A man in his 30s, a bearded man in his 50s, and a pretty woman. It seemed the man in his 30s had just called him.

Soon,

‘Oh- this is where I was before. Ah, I'm back.’

Kang Woojin slowly lowered the phone from his ear. However, his expression was a bit strange. He looked a bit drunk. Checking the phone screen, Woojin saw that about a minute had passed. It was strange; he felt like at least 30 minutes had passed in the mountains just now.

Whatever it was,

“......”

Kang Woojin wore an expression as if he didn't care. His brain was slow. At this moment,

“Hey, are you not going to do it? We can't reach Kim Daeyoung.”

The man in his 30s sitting at the long table, holding the script, asked Kang Woojin. Looking at him calmly,

‘......Script. Ah, right, I've already experienced this. Do they want to see it again?’

Woojin slowly stood up from the chair.

-Swoosh.

The man in his 30s was slightly surprised.

“Oh? You're going to do it? Wow, you and your friend have a strong bond.”

Then, Kang Woojin stood in front of the three people sitting at the long table. The distance was about two steps. Why? The reason was unclear. Woojin just felt like he needed to show something.

Everything he had experienced in the unknown place just now.

Even as Kang Woojin slowly adjusted his posture,

-Swoosh.

Everything was still vivid. Because he had experienced it firsthand.

About 10 minutes later.

After showing everything contained in the script, Kang Woojin was lying on the ground. His hands were pointing towards the sky. Why? Because he had been begging just a moment ago.

Then,

“Ah.”

His mind, which had been floating, suddenly became clear. In fact, his consciousness had been clear all along. It just felt like his brain, which had been a bit slow, was now operating more quickly.

Anyway,

-Swoosh.

As Kang Woojin slowly lowered his raised arms, the first thing he felt was,

‘Ah, damn. What did I just do?’

A huge sense of shame.

Next,

‘- What the hell just happened? Is there something wrong with my mind?’

He tried to understand the situation. Clearly, something had happened, but it also felt like nothing had. Everything was a mess. His mind was in chaos. Whatever it was, even if he had been possessed by a ghost, everyone had seen what Woojin had just shown.

It was very passionate, whether it was an experience or something else.

Soon, Kang Woojin, who had been lying down, gave a small cough and slowly stood up. Here, Woojin came to one conclusion.

‘Pretend it didn't happen. Act natural. I'll sort it out after I run away.’

It was very embarrassing and shameful, but he tried to act calm. He repeated a mantra.

‘I'm confident. I'm cool. Kang Woojin, you're not embarrassed at all right now.’

He tried to act as tough as possible.

At this moment,

“......You know.”

A woman's voice penetrated. It was the extremely pretty woman among the three sitting at the long table. Wait, this woman?

‘What? Crazy. Hong Hye-yeon?!”

Long, flowing hair, clear skin. Right in front of Woojin was the well-known top actress, Hong Hye-yeon. Why didn't I recognize her just now? Was it because she looked so unfamiliar? She's an angel. If angels existed, they would definitely look like her. Maybe her appearance was so inhuman that it was the reason.

Thanks to this, Woojin

‘Wow, I'm just in awe. Wow-’

Stopped fidgeting with his pants and was captivated by Hong Hye-yeon, who was sitting two steps in front of him. Her question, with narrowed eyes, came at this moment.

“Which university's Department of Theater and Film did you graduate from? Chung-Ang? Hanyang?”

What is she talking about? Anyway, Woojin wanted to shout that he was a fan of hers right away. But he had to maintain his tough act along with the shame from before.

If he did, maybe this crazy sense of shame would be somewhat neutralized, right?

Then, Woojin moved his stopped hand and casually brushed off the dust on his pants, clearing his throat. As low and heavy as possible. Might as well add a bit of arrogance.

Surprisingly, a very low tone came out.

“No, I graduated from a design department at a university in Gyeonggi Province. I'm good at design.”

Crazy. Why did he say, “I'm good at design” at the end? He noticed the mistake but kept his face even sterner. What was interesting was that

“Design... department?”

“......?”

The top actress Hong Hye-yeon and the other two sitting in front of him all had their faces twisted. It wasn't clear why, but they were definitely surprised.

“So, where did you learn acting?”

Acting? Damn. It was a field he had never been interested in, but Woojin had to bluff. He wanted to run away quickly.

“I learned on my own. Occasionally on weekends.”

“......What?”

This amplified Woojin's arrogance, though he didn't realize it.

Soon,

“Well.”

The bearded man in his 50s, sitting in the middle of the long table, opened his eyes wide and added a question.

“What about what you just did? It was your first time, right? How did you do it after just a brief look at the script?”

What just happened? Shh. Don't emphasize my shame. Woojin, who was about to run away, glanced back and answered. Of course, he had to maintain his tough act and seriousness.

“It wasn't that difficult.”

After answering, Woojin casually greeted the three in front of him and

“Well.”

walked towards the door at the back, trying to stay calm despite his urgency. He kept muttering, "Don't call me, don't call me" in his mind. Soon, Kang Woojin, standing in front of the door, said something like a warning to the staff.

“Sorry, but don't use what I just did on the broadcast. I'll sue if you do.”

It was arrogance. He wanted to escape this hell as quickly as possible. Anyway, fortunately, Kang Woojin was able to leave the room without any trouble.

In front of him were still the waiting participants.

“......”

Woojin, who had been expressionless, started walking faster as he brushed past them. It was almost like a light jog.

-Swoosh.

After walking quite a distance, he covered his face with both hands and sighed deeply.

“Damn, I'm so embarrassed.”

Meanwhile, in the room Kang Woojin had just left,

“......PD, he just said it wasn't difficult, right? After showing such acting?!”

The top actress Hong Hye-yeon had her mouth wide open. Of course, her excitement was very contagious, and the bearded man in his 50s, sitting in the middle, caught her question.

“Design department? Good at design? What a ridiculous guy.”

“Self-taught? Liar! He must have learned it!”

“Even if he did learn it. Even if he did. Considering he's not from a theater and film department and his main job is design, can he show such acting after just a brief look at the script? I, with 20 years of directing experience, think it's impossible.”

“......That’s.”

“Well, his calmness and confidence when answering. That was real. He really thought it was easy. Even after just a brief look at the script, he could show such a series of acting. I've never seen someone whose past is so hard to gauge.”

Soon, the bearded man in his 50s looked towards the door where Kang Woojin had left and smiled.

“A rare genius. Such monsters occasionally appear.”

The snowball of misunderstanding started rolling.