Chapter 64

This weekend was crazy. On Saturday night, we twelve people drank eight bottles of baijiu, and countless beers... On Sunday, we were busy from 5:30 in the morning until 9:00 at night... When I got home, I couldn't help but mess up my computer again... Now I'm reinstalling the system, and I'm sending this chapter from my phone... Everyone, just bear with it for now! I'll make up the two missing chapters in a few days...

The following is the main text:

When all the lights at the top of Hall No. 1 were turned off, the theater became quiet. First came the pre-movie advertisements and trailers that are common in films from all countries, followed by the logo of Li Chong's studio—a side profile of a man with a mustache, which, if you looked closely, vaguely resembled Li Chong.

This logo was taken after Li Chong returned from the Li Hyori wine party, when the Gao brothers pulled him over to take a photo. Li Chong initially thought it was just a photo session, but so many people treated him like a pet, posing him. After Li Chong sent the edited movie to Showbox, the Gao brothers sent him this studio logo. Li Chong thought it looked good and decided to use it. At that time, he didn't realize that this logo would become one of the most familiar logos in South Korea in the coming years.

After the Li Chong Studio logo, the Showbox logo with the box and ball appeared, and then the movie began.

First, the screen turned red, and the pre-movie credits appeared. After one minute, the main film started.

A busy street filled with traffic, a beautiful girl making a phone call in a car, then seemingly searching for something. A man who looks honest and straightforward meets her, and they get into the car together. After driving to a quiet neighborhood, the two get out... The scene changes again, and it's pouring rain. The girl's car is parked on a small road, with some leaves already fallen on it. Jin Yoon-sik, playing Zhonghao, is holding an umbrella, smoking, and standing beside the car, looking somewhat frustrated.

The opening is unremarkable. Although most of the audience can probably guess what the beautiful girl does for a living, the shots are clean, with no other implications, making it hard to understand why this scene is rated as restricted for viewers 19 and over.

The movie continues, still on a busy street filled with traffic. A man with a crude appearance is distributing flyers to cars waiting at traffic lights. These are cards featuring various topless call girls. Even if a driver wants to roll down the window to curse at him, they are silenced by his crude appearance and tattoos. Zhonghao is troubled because a missing girl borrowed a large sum of money from him, and the loan sharks are now demanding repayment...

A call girl is summoned to a hotel to accompany a guest. When the call girl has already taken off her dress, the audience might think it's a pornographic scene, but it turns out the guest is colluding with others to record a video. The call girl and the guest get into a struggle.

When Zhonghao arrives, the man has already been stopped by the staff, spewing profanities. The call girl, with a bruised nose and face, slowly dresses herself, gives Zhonghao a cold look, and walks out. Zhonghao feels that his subordinate is threatened and decides to teach the john a lesson, and also to claim some compensation for the loss and missed work...

When Zhonghao goes down to the parking lot, the call girl feels even more that Zhonghao is a scoundrel, a scoundrel who only uses their bodies to make money.

Gradually, the audience learns that Zhonghao is a former detective, and several of the call girls under him have gone missing. One of them borrowed a large sum of money from him and then disappeared. Zhonghao always thought someone was helping them escape or selling them to other places.

Just as Zhonghao is at his wits' end, a call girl request makes him suspicious. A man keeps changing call girls, none of whom satisfy him. Zhonghao doesn't have many left who can be dispatched, and there's a beautiful single mother who hasn't worked.

In the end, under Zhonghao's threats and inducements, the sick Meizhen still goes to the appointment and agrees to send Zhonghao a text message with the location as soon as she arrives. But another call girl, Meizhen, goes missing...

When the audience sees Chi Young-min holding a hammer and chisel, striking Meizhen's head repeatedly, the dark red blood gushing out shocks the audience...

Zhonghao's suspicion that the man making the call girl requests is the one who took his girls is wrong from the start. He wants to seek help from his former colleague and good friend Ji Yu, who is now a police captain. Ji Yu is currently on duty to protect a politician's publicity stunt for the upcoming election, conducting interviews in the market late at night... Just as Zhonghao is asking Ji Yu for help, an unexpected incident occurs: a protester throws feces at the politician to show his dissatisfaction...

As the plot unfolds, the charm of "The Chaser" gradually becomes apparent. Chi Young-min's cunning and cruelty, Zhonghao's passionate and tenacious nature, Meizhen's infinite desire to live, and her daughter's hope for her mother are all revealed on the big screen...

Each scene tugs at the audience's heart. When the audience sees Chi Young-min being caught by Zhonghao and arrested by the police, they cheer, but they also curse the prosecutor's ugly face for releasing Chi Young-min due to lack of evidence and the politician's influence.

When the audience sees Meizhen not dead, running out of the sinister house, they see a bright and sunny morning, birds singing, and flowers blooming, warming their hearts. They feel this ending will be good—Meizhen has escaped, and Chi Young-min will be captured; justice will triumph over evil.

But the audience is disappointed. Although they guessed the ending, they didn't guess the process. Chi Young-min, after being released, passes by the small supermarket where Meizhen was hiding, buys a pack of cigarettes, and the talkative shop owner reveals everything. The outcome for Meizhen is predictable.

The gushing blood is exceptionally tragic, and many female audience members cry softly. Many viewers begin to blame the screenwriter for being so cruel and the director for being so cold.

Especially the final confrontation between Zhonghao and Chi Young-min, which is both what the audience expects and what they hate. When the audience sees Meizhen's head in the fish tank, they are shocked by Chi Young-min's cruelty, and also by the director's mercilessness, not only cutting off the hope of life but also extinguishing humanity...

When the movie ends, the theater falls silent, followed by a burst of enthusiastic applause. The audience applauds this excellent film.

Although the director is cold and merciless, the film's production and plot are top-notch.

From the audience's reaction, Li Chong knows his movie is a success. Choi Min-woo knows he has seized another opportunity, and this will be a film that will shock the audience.

This night, in various parts of South Korea, a cruel yet well-received movie is being shown. On Valentine's Day in 2008, Li Chong presented a movie to all of South Korea, a movie rated for viewers 19 and over.

From the next day, countless reviews began to pour in...

Page flip, AD starts

Page flip, AD ends