Lying down, Woojin suddenly bolted upright at the robotic female voice spreading through the void.
"What did you just say??"
The moment had come so suddenly that surprise spread across Kang Woojin's face. His eyes widened as well. At the same time, he recalled what the robotic woman had said.
'Acquired understanding of role integration.'
Woojin questioned the invisible being.
"What did I acquire? An understanding of role integration? What is that supposed to mean?"
But—
"..."
No sound came from the void anymore. No, if it was going to answer, then at least it should show him something. Whether it was a language or a martial art, once her words ended, a gray mass would always appear and swallow Kang Woojin whole.
But this time was different.
"What, that's it??"
Silence fell.
Nothing happened. There was only the endless dark void stretching in every direction. Frowning, Woojin slowly got to his feet. He thought maybe it was because he had been sitting down, but even after standing, nothing happened. For a second, the thought crossed his mind that maybe this was some kind of prank, but he soon shook his head.
'The void wouldn't do something that pointless.'
Muttering to himself, Woojin turned his head and checked the white rectangles. Nothing seemed especially different. What the hell was it? It had clearly said he had acquired something. Tilting his head, he stood there scratching at his hair.
"Hmm."
Just in case, he looked inside himself.
More precisely, it would be more accurate to say he felt inside himself. His inner world, his internal landscape, was already vast. The worlds of many different works had been engraved there, while abilities had piled up densely inside him. The worlds of the works Kang Woojin possessed resembled a row of small rooms, each one belonging to a different story.
That was the image.
Whether Kang Woojin had decided on that himself or the void had, he could not say, but whenever he needed to draw out the world of a work, he always began by opening the door to that room. Then that work's world would instantly seep into him. Naturally, he experienced it through the perspective of the character he was reading, or rather living through.
Another reality.
A role existed inside the world of the work in every sense, from dialogue to emotions, thoughts, and habits. It was impossible to separate the role from the work and pull it out on its own. Because of that, when Kang Woojin had first started acting, there had inevitably been some limitation on his freedom.
There was a fixed framework, after all.
Even though Kang Woojin was the owner, the process was always the same in the end. He immersed himself in the world of a defined role, then stepped back out of it. So whenever he took on a role, the background of the work naturally spread out before him. That was the basic principle. Of course, Woojin could add his own touches to a performance, but they could never surpass the power granted by the void. In any case, Kang Woojin's inner world had always worked like this until now.
But—
"Huh? Something feels... strange."
After sweeping through his inner world just now, Kang Woojin noticed that something had changed. It was not a drastic transformation. It was simply a subtly different image from before. If he had to put it into words, it felt as though the characters he had played were standing in front of the small rooms of their respective works.
As if they were waiting for their master's call.
It was similar, yet unmistakably different. Kang Woojin unconsciously arrived at that conclusion.
'Can I use them however I want now?'
It almost looked as though he could use each role freely. The roles had become completely separated from the worlds of their works. They retained their original personalities, tendencies, and charm, yet were now distinctly split apart from the settings those works belonged to.
Yes, like skills you acquire in a game.
Maybe they were more like familiars. It felt as though the S-rank familiars he had worked so hard to obtain were standing in front of the doors, waiting. S-rank familiars like Kim Ryujin, Assistant Manager Park, Han Inho, and Lee Sangman. The ones who had made Kang Woojin into what he was now were waiting for their master's choice, no longer bound to the worlds that had once confined them.
A moment later, standing blankly in the void, Kang Woojin muttered under his breath.
"Then does role integration mean I can use these roles regardless of the world of the work?"
In Hanryang, Woojin could call out Lee Sangman, and in Island of the Missing, he could bring forth Kim Ryujin. Then suddenly, for some reason he himself did not fully understand, Woojin left the void. The darkness around him vanished, and reality reappeared. Naturally, there was no one else inside the tent where he had been waiting.
There was noise outside, but there was no sign of anyone approaching the tent.
"..."
With a serious expression rather than his usual acting face, Kang Woojin shifted his gaze from where he sat. He was looking at the script for The Stranger's Grim Sacrifice lying on the desk. Just how exactly did this role integration work?
"Well, it's not like I'll figure it out just by thinking about it."
Woojin let out a quiet laugh and exhaled lightly.
"Let's just test it."
Then he called forth Iyota Kiyoshi from The Stranger's Grim Sacrifice. Thanks to how often he had read and experienced him, the scenery of the tent in his vision vanished like smoke in an instant, and Kiyoshi's world began to unfold one layer at a time.
An elegant, yet chilling life.
Woojin's chest tightened slightly with excitement. Indifferent and stiff, Kang Woojin had become Iyota Kiyoshi. His lines, thoughts, emotions, and senses were transmitted right down to his fingertips.
And at that very moment, Kang Woojin did something he had never once tried before.
The process was strangely easy. He had never learned how to do it. Was this also thanks to the void? With Iyota Kiyoshi's presence hanging all around him, Kang Woojin summoned one of the other roles, one of the waiting S-rank familiars. Who should he choose? He did not know. Anyone would do. The one Kang Woojin chose was Kim Ryujin from Exorcism. He felt Kim Ryujin inside him step forward.
And then he painted that over the portion where Kiyoshi's image had spread.
It felt strange to Kang Woojin.
It was a subtle feeling. His emotions were tangled into a mess at the moment. Maybe because it was his first time, he felt slightly nauseous. That sensation lasted for a few seconds.
"..."
Soon, Kang Woojin steadied himself. The world was still Kiyoshi's world. The universe remained the same. Naturally, Woojin was still Kiyoshi as well. His speech, goals, thoughts, and emotions were all unchanged.
But—
"A cigarette."
The Kiyoshi of this moment wanted a cigarette. He was exhausted, and his curiosity was overwhelming. There was no motivation at all in Woojin's expression, and there was even an awkward clumsiness to him. None of that had belonged to the old Kiyoshi. Yet now, Kang Woojin was unmistakably still Kiyoshi.
"Misaki Shutoku-san, you don't need to go that far for my sake."
The line deeply engraved in his mind poured out as though it were his own words. But the intonation, emphasis, and tone were different.
A fusion.
Yes. Kiyoshi and Kim Ryujin had now been fused together. It was not that Kiyoshi had been erased completely and only Kim Ryujin remained.
Both of them existed.
And because of that, something very subtle, yet entirely different, had been born. The traits of both Kiyoshi and Kim Ryujin were revealed in combination. Thin and frail, yet overflowing with curiosity. Blunt, yet somehow clumsy. Ah, that was it. Kang Woojin, who had tried to show both Kiyoshi and Kim Ryujin at once, had realized the method.
What would happen if he removed one S-rank familiar?
Woojin excluded only Kim Ryujin from the fused pair. Even that happened naturally, despite the fact that he had never memorized or learned the process. In an instant, he felt Kim Ryujin leave his body. Then Kang Woojin recited the line again.
"Misaki Shutoku-san, you don't need to go that far for my sake."
Now only Kiyoshi remained. He was as lifeless and dry as a piece of dead wood. It was completely different from before. All of this happened in an instant. It felt awkward because it was his first time experiencing it, but Woojin was sure he would become faster once he got used to it.
If someone else had witnessed the scene, they would have surely thought he was insane.
In any case, that was what Kang Woojin thought.
'How's my condition? I'm fine.'
Next, he summoned another familiar figure.
Assistant Manager Park.
And then—
'Next.'
He repeated the process.
A little while later.
From the outside, Kang Woojin, sitting inside the tent, looked no different at all. But in reality, something enormous had taken place. He had fused every creature, every role he summoned, with Kiyoshi.
Each and every character was special.
Before long, after putting all the roles down and returning to being Kang Woojin, he looked back over everything he had just experienced. It did not take him long to reach a conclusion, and a faint smile tugged at his lips.
"This seems useful."
Even though it would have been impossible for Woojin, who had only been in the entertainment industry for a year, to understand everything, instinctively he knew that what he had just experienced was definitely a strange kind of skill. But where could he apply it?
In an instant, Woojin's expression turned serious. Lowering his head, he opened the script for The Stranger's Grim Sacrifice.
'You know how people say there's acting within acting.'
There were far more scenes than one would expect where a character had to act inside the work itself. Pretending to be someone else, telling lies, forcing a performance at first. If the actor was capable enough, they could show that kind of layered acting without hesitation.
'Even if it isn't exactly the same, if the situation is similar, an actor can build the scene for himself.'
Kang Woojin's thoughts, sharpened by actually acting a little, moved quickly. Naturally, his expectations were not wrong. This was what people commonly called analysis. It was something real actors did as casually as eating a meal. If analysis allowed a character to shine more vividly than originally directed, then anything was fair game for the actor.
'They also call it the process of refining a performance.'
Of course, this was territory Kang Woojin had never explored before. On top of that, the void had always injected everything into him automatically, which made the process itself feel meaningless.
But now, Woojin—
"Let's see which part would work well."
He began practicing a type of acting he had never tried before. He opened the script and read through the parts that rose to mind. He picked out scenes. Then he simulated the acting in his head. Would this work? Or would it be awkward? Maybe it wouldn't be bad. Ah, but just reading it wasn't enough to fully focus.
Kang Woojin picked up one of the pens scattered across the desk.
Scratch.
Then he started writing something into the script. Where should he insert this new role fusion he had just acquired?
'Where would it be most effective?'
But he could not shake the foundation of Iyota Kiyoshi as a character. At its core, Kiyoshi had to remain Kiyoshi. He needed to find a scene where Kiyoshi's personality traits could be emphasized in an instant without causing any real problem.
-Flap.
Woojin fixed his gaze on the script and sank into his own time. His posture looked like that of a real actor. Then—
"Ah, I think this part would be good."
Woojin's pen stopped.
It was one of the sections scheduled to be filmed today, and while devising an experimental performance, he had been polishing the acting only within a range that would not disturb the purpose of the scene or the core of Kiyoshi's character. He started writing notes for that section in the margins of the script.
About five minutes later, after finishing all of it, Woojin slowly nodded to himself and muttered,
'Whew— if I do it like this, will Kiyoshi feel even creepier? I don't know. Let's just try it.'
──────────
About an hour later.
The filming preparations for The Stranger's Grim Sacrifice, which had been slightly delayed, were finally complete. The filming location was behind a high school, more specifically, the recycling center. To be even more precise, it was a warehouse inside the recycling center, a space far wider than expected and packed with all kinds of sports props and equipment.
The crew of The Stranger's Grim Sacrifice set up their gear in front of the warehouse.
Inside the warehouse, one camera had been installed, along with several others positioned toward the front, along with lights, boom microphones, and the rest. The actors of The Stranger's Grim Sacrifice stood there in full costume and makeup. There were around ten of them, men and women combined, and all of them were wearing school uniforms. Kang Woojin, with his disheveled hair, was no exception.
That went for every actor there.
"This is the main camera, so keep your focus here."
"Ah, understood."
"And Woojin, you don't have to look directly into the camera."
"Yes, Director."
Director Kyotaro, his white hair standing out, was in the middle of a spoken rehearsal. The cinematographer and lighting director were there too.
A group of foreigners was watching the scene from about ten paces away.
It was Megan Stone and her team, with Megan's short brown bob standing out clearly.
Megan Stone, the CD, had been busy contacting the film company and trying to figure out the situation because of the leaked footage involving Kang Woojin and Last Kill 3. But after deciding to simply wait and see how things unfolded, she had become somewhat more at ease.
After checking with Choi Sunggeon, it seemed BW Entertainment had nothing to do with the incident, and there was no immediate way to contact the YouTuber involved.
Meanwhile, Megan and the foreign team members on set were murmuring among themselves in English.
"What exactly is going on all of a sudden? If it didn't come from Kang Woojin's side, then where did it leak from?"
"It couldn't have come from the Last Kill 3 team. Especially not through a Korean YouTuber. That makes no sense."
"But those photos in the video were clearly from the audition. So they must have been taken on Kang Woojin's side."
"It's possible, but it's strange too. There was an NDA, so why would they do that? Kang Woojin is doing well. There's no way he'd risk a scandal over a single issue."
"Hmm."
While the team members kept whispering, their leader Megan Stone, arms folded, sharply cut them off.
"Enough. Groundless speculation and suspicion are meaningless."
"That's true. Besides, Kang Woojin didn't seem very surprised even when he saw us."
The chubby man chimed in, sounding puzzled himself.
"He was so calm I thought he already knew we were coming. But he didn't, right?"
Megan brushed back her bob and nodded.
"No. But Kang Woojin was the same way during the audition too. He didn't seem excited by anything."
"He's a really unusual character. Megan, did you hear the explanation for this scene? Judging by the uniforms, is it a flashback?"
The chubby man pointed toward the filming area just before shooting was about to begin, and Megan nodded in agreement.
"Yes, it looks like they're filming a flashback scene from the characters' past."
Right then, another foreign team member joined the conversation.
"I've read the original novel of The Stranger's Grim Sacrifice three times."
"Oh, are you a fan of writer Akari?"
"Not exactly, but I've read The Stranger's Grim Sacrifice several times. It's interesting. This scene is in the original too. It's probably the scene where the protagonist gets bullied."
"I think they call that ijime in Japan."
"That's right. But Megan, the scene where we get to see Kang Woojin's acting might be a little flat."
Megan Stone, who had been watching Kang Woojin on set, turned her head.
"Why?"
"Iyota Kiyoshi, the protagonist, has a passive personality, and he probably won't take much action here either. Kiyoshi is like that throughout the whole work."
The chubby man finished his explanation with a quiet sigh.
"Ah, I guess we happened to come during an easier part to act. Bad timing."
"..."
Megan Stone looked at her team in silence, then turned her gaze back toward the set. Judging from Director Kyotaro's movements, the rehearsal seemed to be over. He sat down in front of the monitor and discussed a few things with the surrounding staff.
"Stand by!!"
The assistant director shouted in Japanese, signaling the start of filming. The actors caught on camera, including Kang Woojin, moved into their positions. Everyone stood there expressionless, while Kang Woojin sat leaning back against the wall.
And then—
Clap!!
The male staff member in front of the camera struck the slate, and Director Kyotaro leaned into the loudspeaker and called out the cue.
"Action!"
At the same time, the Japanese actors giggled as they looked at Kang Woojin sitting there. The camera captured them in a wide shot. This was before Toka Misaki appeared in the story, meaning it was the point where Kiyoshi was being severely bullied. Everyone was alive. Along with Toka, there was also the sharp-featured Shinnosuke Tsugumune, the first to fall from the roof, as well as the handsome Ami Horinochi wearing heavy makeup.
There were around nine of them in total.
With an expressionless face, Kang Woojin sat facing Shinnosuke and two others. The rest stood behind them, laughing and chatting.
At that moment, Shinnosuke crouched down in front of Woojin.
"Kiyoshi, did you bring the allowance you promised me?"
"..."
"I asked if you brought it."
"Yeah."
"Then give it to me."
Kang Woojin pulled a few bills out of his pocket. At the same time, Kinjo, standing beside him, puckered his lips.
"Oh wow, that's quite a bit. Let's go to karaoke after this. Bring a few girls too."
"Kinjo. Stop picking fights with girls all the time."
Ami Horinochi approached, glanced at Kang Woojin sitting there as quiet as a dead rat, and gave a faint shiver.
"Isn't it creepy? Don't you feel uncomfortable every time you look at his face? He's like a robot."
Hearing that, Shinnosuke stared directly at Woojin's gaunt face. Then he grabbed his chin and shook it lightly.
"Exactly. That's why it's boring, right? It's too flat. You irritating bastard. Kiyoshi, show me some kind of reaction. Huh? Come on, do it."
Still twitching his jaw, Shinnosuke started patting Woojin's cheek in a moderate, taunting rhythm.
"..."
But Kang Woojin gave no response at all. He only stared back at him expressionlessly. Shinnosuke's slaps gradually grew rougher.
"Don't look at me with those eyes. I told you to react. Huh?"
All nine of them, including Kinjo, laughed. The camera zoomed in on Woojin's lifeless side profile. In the script, Kiyoshi was only supposed to mutter a simple stop it, but Shinnosuke only grew more annoyed.
Now it was Kang Woojin's turn.
Stop it.
A short line.
But—
──────────
Woojin looked at Shinnosuke, and his breathing grew unsteady. His presence changed in an instant. In the dryness of his eyes, a chilling fear spread. It was strange. His face, aside from the eyes, was still exactly Kiyoshi's. But only the eyes were different.
With his lips trembling faintly, Kang Woojin spoke.
"S-stop. Don't do that. I-I-I'm scared. Don't hit me. I-I already gave you the money."
What?
The actor playing Shinnosoke flinched slightly. The tone of voice was definitely Kiyoshi's, but the feeling was completely different. Timid? Low self-esteem? But then why was the rest of his face, aside from the eyes, still that same expressionless Kiyoshi?
The Kang Woojin in front of him was truly strange.
No, more than strange—
He was eerie.
He was Kiyoshi, but he was not Kiyoshi.
And on top of that—
"Stop?"
That bizarre, unsettling version of Kang Woojin vanished after only a few seconds. It was as if two different people had appeared and disappeared within a fleeting moment. Now he had returned to his usual Kiyoshi. Shinnosoke had only blinked, yet it felt as though he had just seen two entirely different people.
Without realizing it, Shinnosoke froze.
"...Ah."
The actors standing behind him also stiffened. Watching Kang Woojin through the monitor, Director Kyotaro furrowed his brow at the unexpected development.
'Collapsed fear. Or dried-out timidity? How is that even possible? He was Kiyoshi, and then suddenly he wasn't. And only a few seconds later, he became Kiyoshi again. Is that really possible? What the hell was that? What did he bring in?'
And then—
"..."
The foreign group stood as still as if time itself had stopped. Among them, Megan Stone, with her short brown hair, stared with wide eyes and unconsciously murmured as though under a spell,
"T-that actor... what the hell did he just do?"