When Kang Woojin first arrived at the massive warehouse-like studio complex, he was honestly a little surprised.
'Wow, this is way bigger than I expected.'
He had assumed it would be a simple character shoot, so he expected it to take place in a modest studio. But when he actually arrived, the place gave off a serious, professional atmosphere, more like a full-scale production site than a simple promotional set.
'Well, they probably didn't rent out the entire warehouse.'
Woojin quickly calmed his brief surprise and started firming up his concept again. Soon, Kang Woojin stepped out of the van, followed by Choi Sunggeon and the rest of the team.
Among them, Choi Sunggeon, who was tying his ponytail back up, spoke first.
"You heard about the concept for today's character shoot, right?"
"Yes, sir."
"They'll give you the storyboard once we get there, but there's nothing particularly difficult about it. Just think of it as one of those actor introduction videos they release for promotion. A few greetings, a few lines, and it'll be over quickly."
"Understood."
"Oh, and after the shoot, you've got a meeting with PD Song Man-woo. You'll be discussing the script and the overseas shooting location."
Woojin slowly nodded without changing his expression.
As they got closer to the warehouse studio, Han Yejung, with her short blue hair, approached him.
"Oppa, hold on a second."
True to her role as head stylist, she examined his outfit in detail. Every tiny detail most people would ignore mattered to her.
A moment later, after straightening his clothes, Han Yejung spoke in her usual cool tone.
"I think you should've gone with a dandy look instead of casual today."
"It's fine."
"You might like it because you look good in anything, but you heard they said a lot of actors are coming today, right? Unknown actors, rookies, supporting actors, top stars. It doesn't really feel like a super-casual setting."
"It's okay."
"Really? Well, if you like it, then I guess it's fine."
Behind Han Yejung, who was brushing back her bobbed hair, the other stylists chimed in.
"It's not too casual, but not too heavy either, so I think it's actually perfect. Didn't you say Woojin oppa looks good even in casual clothes because his skin tone is so bright?"
"Yeah, exactly."
"And on top of his control, Woojin oppa already has overwhelming presence. Don't you think all the actors gathered there are going to get steamrolled by his aura the moment they see him?"
"Totally! If I were an unknown actor or a rookie, I'd freeze the second I saw him!"
Listening to them, Kang Woojin thought to himself.
'Ah, should I make the usual tough-guy image even stronger?'
'Come to think of it, they said there'd be a lot of new faces at this shoot. There'll probably be some familiar ones too, but most of them will be unknown actors or rookies.'
'This place is basically a battlefield. Better to overdo it than let my guard down.'
So Kang Woojin raised the intensity of his concept acting even further.
Then he entered the warehouse studio.
"Kang Woojin is here!!"
A staff member from the Beneficial Evil production team shouted loudly.
At the same time, Woojin swiftly scanned the inside of the warehouse studio. Even though it was supposed to be a short shoot, the scale was considerable.
More than a hundred staff members were gathered there, and a large amount of filming equipment had already been set up.
'Oh, damn. Are those people over there the actors? There are way more of them than I expected.'
On one side, rows of temporary chairs were filled with actors. At a glance, there were more than twenty of them.
The unknown actors and rookies had all awkwardly risen to their feet and were staring blankly at Kang Woojin. No, to be more precise, they looked almost dazed.
At around that moment—
"Mr. Woojin."
A familiar voice reached Kang Woojin just after he stepped through the entrance.
Song Man-woo was approaching with several staff members. He looked to be in a very good mood, with a smile spread across his face.
"Hahaha, why does it feel like it's been forever? Ah, has it really been that long since the last time we met?"
"Hello, PD-nim."
After exchanging a brief handshake with Woojin, Song Man-woo immediately started talking about recent events.
"Congratulations on hitting twenty million viewers."
"Thank you."
"Mm, I figured it might go over twenty million, but you really never do anything in an ordinary way, Mr. Woojin."
The main staff members nearby also congratulated Kang Woojin, and Song Man-woo kept the conversation going, jumping between topics like the Jinju donation and the recent issues surrounding Woojin.
That went on for about five minutes.
Finally, Song Man-woo got to the main point and began briefing him on today's shoot. Just as he had already said, there was nothing especially difficult about it.
"Mr. Woojin, you've probably seen this kind of thing before, right? Those promotional videos they release to build hype before a teaser or trailer drops. You can just think of it as an actor introduction video like that."
Muttering to himself, Song Man-woo flipped through a few pages of the storyboard.
Then he began walking around the studio with Woojin. When they reached the area where dozens of unknown rookie actors were gathered, Song Man-woo, beard and all, grinned broadly.
"These are the core members of Beneficial Evil. Ah, and of course, Mr. Woojin, you're right at the center of them."
What an embarrassing thing to say.
Pretending he had not heard that part, Kang Woojin lowered his voice.
"I'm meeting everyone here for the first time. What about the others?"
"Who? Ah, Hwarin or the other lead actors? They're on their way right now. Before they get here, why don't you at least say a quick hello?"
As Kang Woojin and Song Man-woo approached, the unknown rookie actors who had been sitting in the temporary chairs began rising one after another.
The closer Woojin got, the more varied their reactions became.
'T-This is crazy!'
'I'm so nervous! I'm seriously so nervous!'
'What? His build looks more normal than I expected.'
'The whole atmosphere changed the moment the lead actor, Kang Woojin, walked in.'
'No way. How can someone with only two years of experience give off this kind of feeling?'
'Don't get intimidated! He's just an actor like us!'
Shock, jealousy, confusion.
A whole mix of emotions.
Kang Woojin, on the other hand—
"..."
There was no visible change in his calm expression.
Before long—
Kang Woojin stopped right in front of the actors and quietly looked them over.
Their expressions were stiff.
Because of that, the unknown rookie actors hesitated, unsure whether they were supposed to greet him first.
But then—
"Hello."
With an indifferent expression, Woojin suddenly bent at the waist in a forty-five-degree bow toward the actors.
"I'm Kang Woojin. Please take care of me."
The unknown rookie actors' eyes widened in surprise. Caught off guard by the sudden turn of events, several of them hurriedly bowed along with him.
The reason was simple.
It was completely unexpected.
Song Man-woo was caught off guard too, but he quickly smiled.
'So this is what people mean these days when they say strong to the strong, respectful to the weak. He looks arrogant, but he draws his lines clearly. He really knows how to handle people.'
At that moment, a woman in round glasses came hurrying into the warehouse studio, slightly out of breath.
"Whew, thank goodness. I'm not late."
It was Choi Nana, the writer of Beneficial Evil.
As she exchanged greetings with the staff, she spotted Kang Woojin standing with Song Man-woo.
'Wow, he's gotten even more handsome.'
She had two copies of the script tucked under one arm.
After that—
Kang Woojin finished greeting the unknown actors and rookies.
In the past, he might have felt a little tense by now, but this time he was calm. At this point, something like this was easy for him.
Still, a few actors stood out in particular.
A small actress with a cute face.
A handsome male actor staring at him with shining eyes.
The actress kept looking straight at Kang Woojin without any change in expression.
'Wow, her gaze is kind of scary. She's definitely an important character.'
The handsome actor, on the other hand, looked like he might hug Woojin at any second.
'I kind of want to run away.'
The introductions for those two started with Song Man-woo.
He began by introducing the actors among the unknown rookies who would be working with Kang Woojin most often.
"This actress is Lim Hae-eun. She made it through the large-scale audition. Her acting is excellent, and despite her appearance, she also has a dark side to her image."
Lim Hae-eun, with her small frame and cute appearance, greeted Woojin calmly.
Her voice, unexpectedly, sounded rather gloomy.
"Hello."
Kang Woojin was slightly surprised, but he accepted her greeting without showing it.
"Nice to meet you."
Even after the greeting ended, Lim Hae-eun kept staring at him.
Normally, he might have ignored it, but Kang Woojin was in full-force concept mode today, and he did not let it slide.
Without hesitation—
"What is it?"
"…Nothing."
"It doesn't look like nothing."
"I was just curious."
Song Man-woo leaned closer and whispered into Woojin's ear.
"I heard her mother is a shaman."
A shaman?
Wow, that was a first.
'That's interesting. Not me, you.'
But with no change in expression, Woojin answered Lim Hae-eun.
"That wasn't curiosity. That was awe."
"..."
To shift the mood, Song Man-woo pointed to another actor.
It was Jo Moochan, who was visibly fidgeting with nerves.
"This is actor Jo Moochan. Mr. Woojin, you know Jeon Mun-guk, right? Of course you do. He's too famous not to. Jo Moochan belongs to Jeon Mun-guk's theater company. In other words, he's Jeon Mun-guk's direct disciple."
Jeon Mun-guk.
A top-tier veteran actor.
Of course Kang Woojin knew who he was. Not because he had seen his work, but because anyone living in Korea would know the name Jeon Mun-guk.
Right then, Jo Moochan, about the same height as Woojin, barely managed to open his mouth through his nerves.
"H-Hello! I'm Jo Moochan! Uh… you're my idol. No, I mean, I'm a huge fan of yours, Mr. Kang Woojin!"
"Hello."
Woojin politely accepted the greeting, then gave Jo Moochan a quick once-over.
The conclusion came quickly.
'He's ridiculously handsome.'
With naturally falling hair, clear skin, and features that were sharp yet gentle—
'How do I put it? He feels like an insanely handsome upperclassman in college. That kind of vibe.'
Like Lim Hae-eun, Jo Moochan also had a strong character to him, and Song Man-woo once again added a whispered explanation into Woojin's ear.
"Don't you think he gives off the complete opposite feeling from you, Mr. Woojin? That's exactly why I like him. At first glance he might seem ordinary, but once he starts acting, this huge energy comes out of him. He really lives up to being Jeon Mun-guk's disciple."
Really?
Woojin looked at Jo Moochan again.
His eyes were sparkling.
He definitely gave off a vibe completely opposite to Kang Woojin's current image. Of course, that difference existed largely because of Woojin's concept acting.
Song Man-woo kept whispering.
"Ah, and one more thing. Jo Moochan's role model is you, Mr. Woojin. I talked to him during auditions, and he said he was a huge fan. Actually, it felt more like he worshipped you as some kind of god."
At that moment, Kang Woojin finally understood why Jo Moochan's eyes had been sparkling so intensely.
Even so—
'This project really does feel fresh in a lot of ways.'
Excitement rose inside Kang Woojin's chest.
Put simply, it felt like he was building up a different kind of experience. His previous projects had all been packed with overwhelming lineups of top stars, but this time, Kang Woojin himself stood out as the clear central figure.
'Well, even then, all I have to do is act the same as usual.'
Right then—
"Hwarin is here!!"
Hwarin, Ha Kangsu, and the other lead actors of Beneficial Evil began arriving one after another.
"Ah! Woojin-ah! Ah, hm. Mr. Woojin, you really are too out of touch with the world these days, aren't you?"
"Am I?"
"I have to check news articles to make sure you're still alive."
And just like that, the character shoot for Beneficial Evil officially began.
That same day, around early afternoon—
As expected, the character shoot for Beneficial Evil did not take long. Kang Woojin's portion, in particular, wrapped up in less than two hours because he had been the first to film.
After that, he moved straight on to another schedule.
At the moment, he was sitting in a meeting room at Netflix Korea.
Of course, there were several people in the room with him.
Kang Woojin.
Choi Sunggeon.
Executive Director Kim Sohyang.
PD Song Man-woo.
Writer Choi Nana.
And the production manager for Beneficial Evil.
They had all gathered together after finishing the morning's character shoot.
For Kang Woojin, who had not been in this meeting room in quite a while, the space filled with posters of various hit productions gave him a strange feeling of nostalgia.
'It's been a while since I've been here.'
Even while thinking that, he kept his expression blank the entire time.
Meanwhile, Kim Sohyang, who had been talking with Song Man-woo, smiled across the table at Woojin.
"Mr. Woojin, I've been seeing a lot of news about how well you've been doing these days. Ah, and congratulations on Island of the Missing passing twenty million viewers."
When Kang Woojin gave a brief reply, Kim Sohyang's smile deepened even more.
"I hope our Beneficial Evil becomes a huge success too."
The production manager cut in.
"Hahaha, with Kang Woojin, the Midas touch, here, what is there to worry about?"
Kang Woojin nodded too.
Inside, though—
'True enough.'
'Beneficial Evil is definitely SSS+ grade.'
But of course, he could not say that out loud, so he answered as calmly as ever.
"I'll work hard."
It was a simple response, but for some reason, Song Man-woo, Kim Sohyang, and the others all seemed reassured by it.
'If that monster is saying he'll work hard, then there's nothing to worry about.'
'He's not the Midas touch. He's the Kang totem.'
At that point, writer Choi Nana, who still looked a little shy, adjusted her round glasses and handed Kang Woojin two copies of the script.
"Mr. Woojin, I'm sorry it took so long. These are the episode 1 and 2 scripts with the newly added scenes included."
"It's fine."
"They're almost identical to the original versions, so you only need to check the added scenes."
Song Man-woo also added his own explanation.
"You've already seen the materials about the overseas shooting location, so for now just go over the script. If you have any opinions, please tell us anytime, Mr. Woojin."
He also mentioned that if Woojin had no particular objections, they would frequently rehearse and practice together with the action director, especially for the overseas action scenes.
Of course, everything would be adjusted to fit Woojin's schedule.
At that moment, Kang Woojin—
He pulled the revised Beneficial Evil script with the black square attached toward himself.
Outwardly, it looked like he was listening to the others, but in reality, his index finger had already moved.
Poke.
Why?
Obviously, to enter the void space.
He was slightly tired, and he also needed to replace the revised Beneficial Evil script.
Anyway, after stepping into the endlessly dark void—
"Haaah—"
Woojin stretched and let out a huge yawn.
His concept acting vanished instantly.
Still in that relaxed state, he walked over to where the white rectangles were lined up.
Just as expected, the white rectangles marked Beneficial Evil were arranged separately between the old versions and the newly added ones.
Since he had gone through something similar before, Woojin casually erased the old white rectangles under Beneficial Evil.
"Episodes 1 and 2… that was stuff I read, or rather experienced, a long time ago, wasn't it?"
After finishing that, he turned his gaze to the newly added rectangles.
-[9/Script (Title: Beneficial Evil), SSS+ Grade]
-(Episode 1)/(Episode 2)/(Episode 3)...
-[*This is an extremely polished drama script. 100% readability is possible.]
He tapped the white rectangle under Beneficial Evil, the one that had once granted him the ability related to martial arts.
More specifically, he selected episode 1.
-[Displaying list of readable characters.]
He had already gone through the reading, or experience, once in the past, but he still needed to check the newly added scenes.
Well, it would not be too late to read the actual script later too.
Naturally, Kang Woojin selected Jang Yeonwoo, the male lead of Beneficial Evil.
And then—
["..."]
The robotic female voice he expected delivered an unexpected message instead.
["A skill exceeding the base specifications has been detected. CQC will be acquired first."]
Kang Woojin's brows furrowed instantly.
"What?"
"What does that even mean? No, what the hell is CQC?"
He had never heard that term in his life.