Beneficial Evil was SSS+ rank?
Kang Woojin stared at the white rectangle in genuine shock, his eyes widening slightly despite himself.
"Wow, that's incredible. It shot up that much all of a sudden?"
Beneficial Evil had definitely been SS-rank. In the past, that had been the highest rank the void could produce, but now even that standard had been overturned. It had become SSS+.
The highest rank in the void had just been redefined again.
"Wait, we were just talking about Netflix earlier, and then this happened. If we decided to go with Netflix, then of course the score would jump like crazy, wouldn't it?"
It had been about an hour since his meeting with PD Song Manwoo. What they had been discussing was the final platform for Beneficial Evil. Out of countless possibilities, Woojin's choice had made it nearly certain that it would air on Netflix, and that meant a challenge aimed at the entire world, with all the risks that came with it.
After that, the SSS+ rank had been set.
Soon, a smile spread across Kang Woojin's face as he stared at the white rectangle marked Beneficial Evil.
"Does this mean a worldwide release is going to be a huge success? That's seriously amazing."
To be honest, Woojin still found it hard to predict how the result of an SSS+ rank would actually appear in reality. For example, the most powerful result he had ever seen with his own eyes in real life had been Profiler Hanryang, which was S-rank. And this result was bound to be several times more destructive than Hanryang.
Even thinking about it roughly, the scale would be enormous.
What on earth would it be? What kind of thing would happen?
Honestly, it was hard even to imagine. Woojin had no experience with anything like it, and there were not many references he could look to. K-pop and the Korean Wave had been drawing worldwide attention to some extent, but there still had not been a truly global smash hit.
"Heh, maybe it'll spread across the whole world and even get localized in each country's language."
Even if that was a bit exaggerated, it would still become a major sensation in at least the major cities of Europe. Kang Woojin forced down the smile tugging at his mouth. If he carried this excitement back into reality, it could interfere with maintaining his concept.
"Ah, damn it, I want to tell the whole world."
Since he was the only one who knew the result, he wanted to shout it out immediately, but he had to hold back. After spending a long time in the void, Woojin knew very well that its rankings were unstable. Even if it was SSS+ now, if anything went wrong along the way, the rank could plummet in an instant.
'Stay as calm as possible and focus only on the acting I can do.'
It was still only the beginning. This was an extremely delicate period, and the changes happening now were dangerous. The best thing was to let everything flow naturally without interfering.
After taking a deep breath and steadying himself, Kang Woojin looked over the rest of the white rectangles once again.
-[8/Scenario (Title: Leech), SSS-rank]
Even Leech's acting score had gone up. The change had happened after the audition. Woojin rubbed his chin.
'Come to think of it, that old man— no, Director Ahn Gabok— did say something about acting standards after the audition. There must've been some misunderstanding. So this change probably started there.'
'Or maybe it's because of the actors who got cast.'
The legendary top actress Oh Heeryung had joined as well. And every actor selected through the audition had been top-tier.
'Now that I think about it, every actor involved in Leech has insane acting ability. That's really something.'
In any case, a rank increase was definitely something to celebrate. On top of that, Island of the Missing and The Stranger's Grim Sacrifice had also risen to SS-rank. He could not be certain, but it was possible that it was because Kang Woojin's influence had grown.
Not long after—
Woojin, who had been staring at the white rectangles, lay flat on his back against the endless dark floor of the void and stretched.
"Khh—"
Letting out the satisfied sound, he grinned.
"Damn, I need to focus on acting."
While imagining the enormous future ahead.
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After that—
Kang Woojin returned from the void to reality, headed to the salon, and immediately buried himself in his schedule.
Naturally, today's schedule was just as brutal.
In the morning, he had to update various matters related to bw Entertainment. Recently, thanks to Chairman Hideki's support, bw Entertainment had moved offices, and with the company expanding, they had to overhaul the main website and upgrade everything related to marketing, including social media and YouTube.
And of course, everything related to bw Entertainment's star, Kang Woojin, had to be newly added.
The most important thing was his profile photo. Because of that, Kang Woojin had to change into outfits for all four seasons from early in the morning and take hundreds of photos.
"Great! Woojin-ssi! This time, give me a more confident expression! Lift your chin a little too!"
"Ah, okay."
"Good, good!"
That situation continued all the way until lunchtime.
Meanwhile, after wrapping up his work with Kang Woojin, PD Song Manwoo visited Netflix Korea with the key production staff of Beneficial Evil. Everyone agreed that the best approach was to move immediately before the opportunity slipped away, so there was no reason to delay any further.
"PD-nim, welcome. I've been waiting for your call."
"My call came sooner than you expected, didn't it?"
The meeting between Executive Director Kim Sohyang and PD Song Manwoo was extremely important, but it moved forward smoothly without a hitch.
"This time, let's really aim for a proper global expansion with Netflix."
"Thank you! I'm even prepared to risk my life for this. By the way, what did writer Choi and Woojin-ssi say?"
"Writer Choi Nana said she was fine with it. She said she was too busy writing to spare attention for anything else. As for Woojin-ssi— well, you know what he's like. He said not to worry and to just go ahead."
So then—
"PD-nim, please take good care of us."
"Likewise."
And just like that, Beneficial Evil, directed by the giant of the drama world PD Song Manwoo, officially joined hands with Netflix Korea. This meant Beneficial Evil would now rise as a Netflix original series targeting the global market.
The meeting of PD Song Manwoo, Boy Friend writer Choi Nana, and Kang Woojin had already generated enormous buzz around Beneficial Evil. The news that it was now aiming for global expansion through Netflix would only amplify those expectations further.
Of course, there was already another side drawing attention.
The people connected to Leech. Director Ahn Gabok and the Leech production team.
The promotional effect went without saying.
『[MovieIS] Rumors spreading that Director Ahn Gabok's film Leech is holding a large-scale audition』
『Rumors of auditions for the drama Leech… most of the participating actors are top-tier performers』
They were all moving busily toward the next stage of the audition process. Among them, the actors who had auditioned yesterday stood out the most.
"Still no 연락?! Still nothing?!"
"No, not yet. It's only been a day, so don't get too impatient and wait a little longer."
There had been the unexpected landmine called Kang Woojin, but everyone was still desperately waiting for the results. Naturally, actors who had ties to Kang Woojin, like Jin Jaejun, Hong Hyeyeon, and Hwarin, were no exception.
Meanwhile, even the actors who had already been confirmed as leads in Leech were behaving differently than usual.
It had only been for a brief moment during the audition. More precisely, Oh Heeryung, who had witnessed Woojin's acting, was waving her hands around while on the set of a cosmetics commercial.
"Noona, are you practicing sign language again? You were already good at it."
"Being good at it isn't what matters."
"What?"
"Sign language has to become second nature. If it doesn't come out as naturally as speech, it won't work at all."
"W-who are you talking about, noona? For who?"
"For Woojin-ssi."
The great actor Shim Hanho was the same. In fact, he had gone even deeper than Oh Heeryung. He was sitting in the living room of his spacious house.
-Bzzz. Bzzz.
His phone had been vibrating for quite some time, but he ignored it, busy scribbling something down. In fact, he did not even seem to hear the vibration.
"Why? Why would Chairman Yoon Jeongbae behave like that here? Is my analysis really correct?"
He kept doubting. The Chairman Yoon Jeongbae he had built for himself, the actions and thoughts he had assigned to the character. He dug deeper, scrutinized everything, and kept searching.
'This emotion is wrong. Broaden the thought process. Think further. Think more.'
Shim Hanho's script was already worn out. Every empty space had been packed full of words. But he did not stop.
Because he had seen his junior acting as Chairman Yoon Jeongbae.
Honestly, it would not have been strange if Shim Hanho had collapsed under that weight. Kang Woojin's performance had been that chilling.
And yet Shim Hanho, with his tiger-like face, kept charging relentlessly. If anything, he had pushed forward even more. Now, he even felt grateful to Kang Woojin.
Because Woojin had helped pry open the door in his mind.
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Meanwhile, the atmosphere in Japan was far from ordinary.
『The story behind Kang Woojin's piano performance that shook Japan— it was astonishing fan service』
『Famous voice actress Sayaka Asami reveals the story behind Kang Woojin's piano performance. It had been for her daughter.』
It was not just the press. Public opinion was the same.
On social media in particular, it was like a tsunami had hit. All three of Japan's major SNS platforms were overflowing with posts carrying the hashtag #KangWoojin.
[hiro_88_552]
[Oh my god… a piano performance for just one person… if it had been my daughter's story, I would've fainted on the spot.]
[#KangWoojin #AsamiSayaka]
[aiko]
[Japanese actors need to learn from Kang Woojin! This is seriously refined fan service! That girl is going to support Kang Woojin until the day she dies!]
[#KangWoojin #KangWoojinPiano #AsamiSayaka]
[mini5161548]
[I've been listening to Kang Woojin's* Merry-Go-Round of Life *like crazy. Because of this song, he's going to get an insane amount of support from the Japanese public. Me included! I love Kang Woojin so much!]
[#KangWoojinMerryGoRoundOfLife #KangWoojin]
·
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How should this atmosphere even be described?
Yes. All of Japan was in an uproar.
Kang Woojin's piano performance had already hit Japan hard. Normally, something like that would stay hot for a few days, maybe a week at most. But then the famous voice actress Sayaka Asami shared astonishing news.
『Sayaka Asami's SNS post being shared endlessly / Photo』
And just like that, the issue surrounding Kang Woojin's piano performance entered an entirely new phase.
『Kang Woojin's solo fan service for a female fan revealed on SNS』
This incident went far beyond being just another hot topic. It struck deeply at the emotions of the Japanese public. Whether it was because of Kang Woojin's showmanship or for some other reason did not matter. The Japanese public was completely captivated by Kang Woojin's fan service, something far beyond what they could have imagined.
As a result, Japanese YouTube and online communities were filled with nothing but talk of Kang Woojin.
It had all started on the 4th, and now even throughout the 5th, the waves continued to spread across all of Japan.
『The warm story of Korean actor Kang Woojin spreads on SNS, fueling the Korean Wave』
Even by the 6th, after another day had passed and dawn had broken, the wave had not faded. If anything, it had grown stronger.
The result was that after only two days, it had already made its way onto famous Japanese variety shows.
"Right now, Japan is in the middle of a Kang Woojin craze, isn't it? Sayo-san, what do you think of Kang Woojin?"
"Wow, he's amazing! I've watched the piano performance video more than ten times. But did you know there's a touching story behind it too, not just the performance itself?"
"I know, I know. I saw voice actress Sayaka Asami's SNS post."
"Isn't this the kind of fantastic fan service you only see in movies?"
"Looks like you've completely fallen for Woojin-ssi."
This trend spread rapidly and naturally through people's conversations, whether online or offline. It was not a common kind of issue to begin with.
And on top of that, the main figure was not a Japanese actor, but a Korean actor. An actor comforting a Japanese girl with a disability.
The reaction of the Japanese public was almost frenzied, and there was no way the Japanese entertainment industry would stay still.
Even without Kang Woojin being present, the set of The Stranger's Grim Sacrifice was speeding up.
"Who would have guessed there was a story like that behind Woojin-ssi playing the piano in the restaurant that day!"
"Exactly. No one knew, right?"
"I really thought he just saw a piano and decided to play. I had no idea he was doing it for one little fan…"
"Isn't it amazing that he even played the OST from the work she loved most?"
"Now I understand why Japan is in such chaos over this."
"Behind that indifferent expression, he's actually got such a warm and kind heart."
"At this rate, when Woojin-ssi leaves, his Japanese fanbase is going to explode."
"His SNS is about to burst as it is!"
At animation studio A10, they were in the middle of preparing production for the Boy Friend remake.
"With piano skills at this level, shouldn't we just hand it to Woojin-ssi right away?"
"If possible, that would definitely be the best choice. Once the Boy Friend remake is released, the ripple effect would be considerable!"
"But… will Woojin-ssi do it?"
"We should try at least once. It's too good an angle to let go. I'll contact them right away!"
"Yes, please do that. We'll focus on the voice actor casting."
Meanwhile, the editing team for Kashiwa Group's commercials starring Kang Woojin was also working at full speed. Since the timing for releasing the ads was perfect, they pushed as hard as possible to get them out to the public quickly.
For three straight days, Kang Woojin held the number-one spot on the trending rankings of Japan's largest portal site.
Entertainment / Kang Woojin (-)
It was the first time a Korean actor had ever done that.
──────────
At the same time, in Korea—
On the late morning of the 6th, just as the wave surrounding Kang Woojin in Japan was beginning to spread gradually into Korea, the Leech team made an official announcement.
『[Official] Leech finalizes cast lineup! Following Shim Hanho and Kang Woojin, Oh Heeryung, Jin Jaejun, and Han Sojin join』
It was the announcement confirming the main cast.