Chapter 50: CUT. Pfft~ As if Hypnosis Would Really Work♡ (1)

CUT.

Horror Film Club room.

“Sh*t…!”

Jung Joo-Yi, the club president, screamed in front of the computer.

A video editing software was open on the monitor.

She had been editing the footage they had shot so far.

The footage was generally excellent.

It didn’t look like it was shot impulsively without any plan.

It was not only due to the president’s ability but also because of the equipment.

In the past, shooting a proper movie required large equipment like a Steadicam.

But these days, it seems all you need is a small, handy gadget—a 3-axis gimbal.

Truly, the advances in science were impressive.

However, not all the footage was clean.

Some tracks were in a disastrous state.

Due to the urgency of the situation, there were times when she had to shoot with her hands instead of the gimbal, and the unusable tracks were mostly the results of those instances.

Although handheld techniques are a staple of horror movies… it was excessive.

Unwanted subjects suddenly covering the screen.

Blood on the lens blurred the focus.

Sound became muffled.

The camera shook and missed critical scenes.

The scene where the university president’s car hit a reporter had a serious defect.

It was supposed to be a visually striking scene, but just at that moment, the sunlight glaringly licked the lens.

It got buried in light like a J.J. Abrams movie.

Joo-Yi’s trembling eyes turned towards Yuna Yeon.

“This is a really important part, what should we do?”

“What can we do… We have no choice but to reshoot…”

“Reshoot? How can we retake it when the actor dies after a shoot?!”

That’s right.

Her footage was practically a death sentence.

Once shot, they were no longer alive.

She spoke to the distraught president.

“Just give up. Who would watch a patched-up movie that only stitches together monster death scenes without a story?”

“Hey! The content is all connected!”

Joo-Yi flared up.

She was a B-grade horror movie enthusiast.

The style she pursued was far from the intricacy of a well-woven story.

Clearly, the concept of coherence was absent from her mind.

But no matter how much she pursued fun, she couldn’t just use the poorly shot scenes as they were.

Joo-Yi pondered.

“We can’t just cut out the footage we’ve shot. We have to use backmasking and subliminal.”

“What are those? Some kind of editing technique?”

“You could say that.”

Joo-Yi explained.

Backmasking is inserting a specific sound that is played in reverse.

A famous example is the Beatles’ song “Rain,” where the last lyrics of the song are the first lyrics played in reverse.

Most people listening to a backmasked voice do not realize that the sound is reversed, so it has been controversially used for brainwashing.

Subliminal involves repeating a specific image so fast that it’s unnoticeable to the human eye.

It stimulates the psyche and can imprint messages on the subconscious to influence behavior.

There are actual experiments.

During a movie screening at a cinema, pictures of cola were inserted for just one frame.

The images passed very quickly on the screen, so the audience didn’t even feel discomfort.

However, the audience unconsciously bought cola after leaving the theater.

Subliminal also appeared in the movie <Fight Club>, which Yuna Yeon watched last week.

Joo-Yi continued.

“We’ll hypnotize the audience with backmasking and subliminal. ‘This scene was not poorly shot’…”

“……”

Choosing mass hypnosis over reshooting.

Indeed, a crazy idea worthy of her.

Joo-Yi immediately started collecting data on subliminal and hypnosis.

Yeoreum returned home.

He picked up a videotape and inserted it into the player.

A new episode had been updated. This time, it was S#8.

The subtitle was ‘Cloverfield’.

In it, the protagonist, the original Han Yeoreum, struggled through a nightmare.

The antagonist was Nancy’s doll, CaptainBear, who, still alive, caused chaos in the dream.

Even the protagonist was merely an avatar of himself.

To save Nancy’s memories, he heroically met his end in flames alongside Captain Bear.

Suddenly, Yuna Yeon spoke up.

“How did they shoot this…?”

“Yuna Yeon, what are you doing here? I don’t remember inviting you.”

She had shown up uninvited, sitting down and shamelessly scooting close.

“How did they manage to film this dream scene?”

“It must be CG.”

“It doesn’t look like CG… Could they have actually filmed a real dream?”

“How?”

“I’m not sure how… But something supernatural is definitely involved, just like this video or the monsters.”

“…”

“The actors in it probably don’t even know they’re actors…”

That was highly likely.

The original Han Yeoreum probably didn’t know his journey was being filmed through the video.

It was practically hidden-camera footage.

He was curious how someone from the 1980s was being recorded.

But the truth was beyond reach.

After all, the identity of the videotape was still unknown.

However, there was some information gleaned from S#8.

According to a mention by Reiko Ishikawa, the ‘W’ emblem stood for ‘Wes’.

It appears the narrator’s group also existed in America during the 1980s.

Yuna Yeon tapped on her phone.

“Yeoreum, I just checked… There’s no group or company called Wes anywhere.”

“It’s natural it doesn’t show up in searches. They’re a secretive group with underground facilities. We should have interrogated that journalist that day.”

“But that person is already dead, hit by a car…”

Wes…

Could it really be like in <Cabin in the Woods>, artificially creating monsters?

Whatever the case, it was clear this was a deranged, deplorable group, especially since a perverted dead journalist was a member.

“Ah, I’ve got a great idea…!”

“Let’s hear it.”

“Let’s just go and capture one of them.”

Haah.

A sigh automatically escaped.

It’s not like fishing; how could just going and capturing one be feasible?

Yuna Yeon seriously planned it out.

-Invade the underground facility and kidnap someone, be it the narrator or anyone.

-Escape undetected and bring them back to the club room.

-Torture them until they spill the information.

-The end.

“Get out.”

Yuna Yeon was kicked out.

—
Raei  Translations
—

The next day.

The president called for an emergency gathering.

Though termed an ’emergency gathering’, it was usually more a plea for help or just because she was bored and wanted company.

However, today was different.

On the club room table, various psychology, psychiatry, and hypnosis books were stacked as high as the Tower of Pisa.

The president, with dark circles heavily under her eyes, grinned sinisterly.

Yuna Yeon cautiously asked.

“Joo-Yi senior… What are all these books for?”

“I did some studying.”

“You didn’t stay up all night, did you…?”

“Hehe, I couldn’t sleep.”

The president pointed to a gorilla clown standing next to a fish-man model.

It was a gesture to go and check.

Approaching the gorilla, she listened closely.

A song was coming from beyond the gorilla mask.

“I’d rather be♪ laughing♬”

It was the clown humming a song.

She was startled.

The clown, who was known only for his crude jokes and was considered a fool, was singing.

It was a miracle.

“How on earth did you do this?”

“I hypnotized him!”

The president said proudly.

You mastered hypnosis in just one day?

“That’s absurd…”

Yuna Yeon crossed her arms, clearly skeptical.

“Do you expect me to believe that, senior? Are you lying?”

“I’ll show you myself.”

She pulled a coin with a hole from her pocket, which dangled from a transparent thread.

“Focus on this coin.”

The president gently shook the thread.

The coin swung back and forth like a pendulum, leaving a trail of afterimages.

Yuna Yeon’s eyes followed the coin.

There was no sign she was falling under hypnosis.

But that was only for a moment.

Suddenly, Yuna Yeon’s eyes glazed over, her shoulders slumping as if her soul had left her body.

Then, as if mechanically following commands, she moved her arms.

She swiftly removed her shirt.

Her pale, smooth skin was seductive.

As the shirt came off completely, her voluptuous breasts in a fancy bra bounced elastically.

In a state of undress, Yuna Yeon knelt in front of Yeoreum; an unexpected turn of events.

Yeoreum hastily averted his eyes.

“Please give me an order.”

Yuna Yeon said while kneeling.

“I will follow any order.”

Is this… hypnosis…?

Yeoreum was flustered.

It was surprising enough that hypnosis was real, but even more astonishing that the president had mastered it in just a day.

Could she be some sort of genius?

Yet, the president looked puzzled.

“Na Yeon, what are you doing? I haven’t hypnotized you yet.”

“Ah sh*t, really… Joo-Yi senior. How can you be so clueless…?!”

Yuna Yeon gave her a look.

So it was just an act. She was pretending to be hypnotized.

He had been completely fooled.

The president continued the hypnosis procedure.

She swung the threaded coin from side to side and asked a few questions.

Yuna Yeon responded earnestly.

However, she ultimately did not fall under hypnosis.

“Hmm. It seems Na Yeon isn’t susceptible to hypnosis. Should I try it on Yeoreum?”

The president approached him.

She shook the coin in front of his eyes.

How foolish.

Hypnosis isn’t so simple that one could master it with just a day’s study.

Besides, there’s no way such a thing would work on a future ruthless killer who wreaked havoc across 1980s America.

Yeoreum looked at the swaying coin indifferently.

“That’s just stupid.”

“Focus on this coin.”

“Hypnosis like this couldn’t possibly work on me……”

That was when it happened.

His muscles relaxed, and life faded from his eyes.

He shook his head very slowly. His mind fell asleep, though his body remained awake.

Yeoreum stayed motionless in that state.

Both the president and Yuna Yeon’s eyes widened.

“Huh?”

—