Ch.172Fragments of a Violent World

While Kim Donghu was immersed in fragments of a cruel and violent world,

There were others who were immersed in fragments of a different kind.

Ring ring ring.

Brrrring.

“You said you could handle it, you son of a bitch!”

“Son of a bitch? Did you just call your senior that?”

“Yeah! I did! You piece of shit! What are you going to do about it? Your face is all over the internet! Your personal information is exposed!”

It was Park Seokgu and Kim Sansu, who had posted the school violence allegations about Kim Donghu.

“Why isn’t he going down like other celebrities? And why is the response so quick?!”

Kim Sansu, who had orchestrated this whole thing, was bewildered.

Normally, this kind of situation would send someone on a one-way train to rock bottom.

But Kim Donghu had completely turned public opinion around in just three hours.

Moreover.

“Kim Donghu involved in school violence? Impossible, Shinbit Middle School teachers testify: ‘He was a diligent and kind student, he was even the student council president.'”

“People don’t change. Why would the perpetrator of school violence pretend to be a victim?”

“‘Legitimate exercise of rights’ – Happy Note developer’s on-site testimony!”

“Fellow actors show strong support! ‘Kim Donghu is absolutely not that kind of person'”

“Protecting our youngest, veteran actor Jang Geonho’s sharp criticism! ‘There are people trying to maliciously tear others down, it’s truly despicable.'”

“Dispatch, silent on school violence controversy, now rowing in support? The reason?”

“Daily Happy editor-in-chief Gil Gildong shows strong affection: ‘We’ve been on Kim Donghu’s side from the beginning'”

Public opinion was boiling over in favor of protecting Kim Donghu.

ㄴIndeed I was right, physiognomy is science

ㄴ(While being the most handsome man in the world, a Louis Vuitton muse, and sponsored by Richard Mille)

ㄴ(While achieving 40% viewership ratings in Eclipse)

ㄴ(While constantly being evaluated as physiognomically perfect)

ㄴKim Donghu has been going to the gym since he was young, and he used violence against ordinary people? That would have been rumored already

ㄴAgree. If a gold medal fist was used like a gangster, it couldn’t have gone unnoticed

Even the public who had initially thrown stones had now joined his side.

They hurriedly tried to delete their posts, but it was already too late.

“What’s an archive? Why won’t this disappear?!”

“All the posts have already been preserved! They’re going up on YouTube!”

Ring ring ring.

Brrrring.

Park Seokgu and Kim Sansu were increasingly terrified by their constantly ringing phones.

But they couldn’t turn them off either.

The fear of not knowing what was happening overwhelmed them the moment they considered it.

“What are we going to do now, is there no way out?!”

“You son of a bitch! You acted like everything would work out, and now we’re here! What solution could there be!”

“You keep cursing at your senior! Hey! Do you really want to get beaten up?”

“Go ahead! No, please beat me up, you bastard! I’d rather get beaten by you and cover this up!”

“You crazy bastard!”

Their shallow friendship shattered.

The harsh reality approached before their eyes.

“Veritas: ‘There will be no leniency. Kim Donghu is Veritas itself, this is a declaration of war against Veritas.'”

“CEO Choi Seokho’s pledge: ‘We will severely punish anyone who does such things.’ Planning to assemble a team of top-tier lawyers!”

There was no turning back.

Reality felt dizzyingly distant.

-[Park Seokgu, you don’t need to come in anymore.]

-[Sansu, don’t come to the gym. If you show up, you’ll die by my hands that day]

It took just 3 seconds to get fired from their workplace and gym.

The time it took to get fired was faster than the time it took to read the messages about being fired.

【 Breaking news! Why did police appear at Shinbit Middle School? Let’s find out about Kim Donghu’s past! 】

Now YouTube was completely exposing their past actions.

Starting with the fact that they had tried to commit group assault.

Their usual behavior and how they nearly had criminal records but were let off because they were students.

Everything was being revealed.

“Huh?”

Their minds grew hazy.

The present increasingly felt like virtual reality.

Brrrring.

Ring ring ring.

The phone kept ringing.

They hadn’t answered until now.

But their clouded judgment made them press the answer button.

-This is Gil Gildong from Daily Happy. Did you know that defamation can result in up to 5 years in prison?

It was an abrupt statement.

Starting the conversation this way as soon as they answered.

But those words made their pupils shake.

Maximum 5 years in prison? They frantically searched the internet.

“….”

It was true.

Because it was done on social media, something about information and communication laws meant they could get up to 7 years, and the fine could be up to 50 million won.

They didn’t know what would happen since it was their first offense, but the other party was demanding severe punishment.

“Huh?”

“Ah.”

Park Seokgu and Kim Sansu suddenly looked at the ground.

Their vision went black.

This was the starting point of their descent into the abyss.

Meanwhile.

Kim Donghu was.

“…Wow, this one’s pretty intense.”

He had emerged from his immersion and was processing the experience from the script.

+++++

The protagonist Hero from “The Real Hero.”

A character made more commercial than in the independent film “Hero.”

More cruel, more thorough, and colder.

Cold justice.

Only Kim Donghu could deliver such a performance.

That was director Lee Seongdeok’s belief.

Whirrr.

The camera moves.

About 10 seconds before filming begins.

Director Lee Seongdeok’s eyes focus on Kim Donghu standing in front of a shabby warehouse.

‘That innocent-looking face.’

How surprising it was every time it transformed 180 degrees when the camera started rolling.

Plus, he was very curious about what would be shown in this action scene.

The script was written very simply.

<Hero subdues human traffickers>

They had rehearsed all the moves, but everything was improvised.

That’s why they spent quite a lot of money on stunt performers for this scene.

Only those of a certain caliber could match Kim Donghu’s action 100%.

Gulp.

A moment of tension.

And then immediately.

“Cue!”

The signal to start filming.

Bang!

As soon as the word ended, Kim Donghu—

No, Hero violently kicks the warehouse door.

‘Huh?’

At that moment, Director Lee Seongdeok was startled.

That door wasn’t a prop.

It was just an appropriately old, rusty real door.

But he kicked it and it crumpled like paper?

‘How strong is he?’

Swallowing his shock, he refocuses on Hero’s action.

“Who are you?!”

“Me? Hero.”

It was a contrasting scene.

The shabby warehouse was very bright due to organ trafficking operations, while

Behind Hero, who had kicked in the door, was the backdrop of late night, very dark.

“Are you crazy, this… I mean, how dare you come here…!”

One of the traffickers, who appeared to be the youngest, approaches Hero.

Grip.

That’s when the baseball Hero was holding.

Whoosh.

Cuts through the air and advances fiercely.

The most important thing was realism.

That’s why the stunt performer was wearing three layers of protective gear to receive the baseball.

Thwack!

A sound erupts from the stomach without any added sound effects.

“What is that, a gun?”

From here on was purely ad-lib territory.

How would he move next?

Just as he was thinking about this.

Crash!

Hero’s baseball breaks all the lights that were brightly illuminating the warehouse.

‘Ah, so that’s why!’

When the lights broke, Director Lee Seongdeok realized why Kim Donghu had said such things before filming.

-The filming lights, can we replace them with cheaper ones?

-What?

-Instead of expensive ones, just ones we can get from a lighting store, with covers so… they’ll be safe even if they break.

-Even if they break?

-Yes.

He wanted to ask why, but.

He thought it would be better to just comply without asking, and so he quietly followed the suggestion.

‘As expected, just listen to actor Kim Donghu!’

To think he would direct the scene this way.

The bright warehouse gradually darkens.

A sudden blackout.

Leaving just enough light to film.

Hero quickly enters the warehouse.

Thud!

As soon as he enters, without hesitation, he grabs anyone nearby and drives a fist into their liver.

The most efficient movement to subdue a person.

Despite having rehearsed several times, the stunt performers momentarily forgot this was acting.

‘What, what is this?’

‘…It’s too scary.’

Eyes.

The stunt performers saw Hero’s eyes.

Eyes that truly saw them as human traffickers.

They could see terrible hatred and disgust in those pupils as they took them in.

Swoosh.

Hero disappears from sight again.

The basics of one against many.

Never getting surrounded, using the terrain and objects, reducing the numbers one by one.

“Ugh, aaaaaahhhhh!”

“Stay together! Stay together, you bastards!”

The leader of the traffickers.

Ju Seonghwan, who played the role of Ji Hyeontae, was equally flustered.

‘To this extent?’

The immersion was even more intense than what he’d seen in Traitor.

If back then it felt like seeing a sword demon, now it was.

‘A yaksha.’

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

It must be choreographed action.

He must be hitting the protective gear.

But the sound makes people cower.

“Ugh, aaaaaahhhhh!!!”

It causes them to scream in ways that weren’t planned.

The surroundings gradually darkening.

Colleagues diminishing before their eyes could adjust to the darkness.

All these things combined to evoke fear.

Tickling their throats to scream.

“You, what are you? Why are you doing this?!”

“There must be a reason for this!”

Eventually, the gang members who were going to kill without asking questions now ask Hero for reasons.

Why are you killing us?

Why are you doing this?

“Is, is it your family? Are they here? I’m, I’m sorry! I was wrong!”

They apologize without it being in the script.

To beg for their lives.

Those who had traded human lives for money.

Naturally fall to their knees and plead to be spared.

But.

“I’m here to punish you.”

As if he never intended to spare them from the beginning.

His knuckles strike directly at the temple.

Bang!

Immediately one person falls.

Crackle, crackle.

One light that hadn’t completely broken belatedly shines again.

“Ah, aaah….”

A terrible sight enters Ji Hyeontae’s eyes.

All the bodies were grotesquely twisted.

And there was a man covered in blood.

“Are you the ringleader?”

“I, uh, ah….”

He suddenly forgets his lines.

He was terrified.

“Cut!”

At that moment, the quick-witted Director Lee Seongdeok gives the OK sign.

He realizes belatedly.

All of these scenes.

“…One take?”

Had been done in a single take.

That was impossible.

To lead an action sequence that runs for about 10 minutes in one take.

He should definitely be exhausted.

“If there are any deficiencies, I can go again right away.”

Kim Donghu said with a face that was too composed.

“…Whew, let’s take a break, Donghu.”

That was scary in a different way.