Ch.246That was cheating.

Before Kiryu Sota met Kim Donghu.

“Thank you for meeting me so willingly despite scheduling this meeting on such short notice.”

“Not at all. Director Kiryu, you were the one who made the offer first, so I should be more grateful.”

Kiryu Sota met with CEO Choi Seokho first.

Actually, saying “first” was rather amusing.

It made sense to discuss the detailed contract with him anyway.

Glance.

‘How can someone so ordinary-looking…’

The world is truly vast.

Looking at Choi Seokho, Kiryu realized how limited his own judgment was.

A man with absolutely no distinguishing features on the surface.

Yet he leads an agency that’s now considered the best in Korea.

‘Is this man truly a stream capable of nurturing a dragon?’

Just as Kiryu was about to speak again with these thoughts in mind.

“By the way, it seems like times are changing so rapidly these days.”

It was Choi Seokho who broke the ice first.

“Pardon?”

“Ah, well, in our day, blood types were all the rage, but nowadays it’s MBTI.”

What even is that? People are still being born in 2020 too.

I think I understand the world to some extent now.

But it seems like there’s more I don’t know than what I do know.

An unexpected bit of small talk.

But it was so natural that Kiryu found himself going along with it.

“Ah… that’s right. Honestly, I don’t believe in it. INJP or… whatever it is.”

“What? Oh, right, JP… it has a Japanese feel to it, which is nice.”

“Between trendy phrases and the way people talk these days… generations change so quickly that media is falling behind now.”

“As expected of a master! That’s exactly what I mean. Media is lagging too far behind.”

“Especially in Japan, where live-action films are decreasing, this trend is more pronounced. There’s a lot of domestic-only content.”

“Isn’t that how it always is? The most authentic representation of a country becomes the most global.”

Quoting the words of a master.

Choi Seokho smoothly led the conversation.

‘…What are we talking about? Why am I discussing this with this man?’

Normally, he would have stated the contract terms, sent the script to Kim Donghu.

That’s all he planned to say before getting up from his seat.

Why was this conversation continuing?

Flip.

Flip.

Belatedly, he noticed another sound.

A sound he hadn’t noticed while talking,

One so natural he hadn’t registered it.

‘Has he been… turning pages?’

Since when?

Reading through each contract clause carefully while leading this conversation?

Is that even possible? While he was thinking this,

Choi Seokho quietly closed the contract and smiled gently.

“The terms are incredible. Honestly, I didn’t expect to receive this level of investment from Japan.”

“Because the actor is worth it.”

“But Musashi… he’s one of Japan’s representative figures, won’t there be controversy?”

“I plan to use even that controversy for promotion. When something takes proper form, anyone will want to see it.”

“Ah, I see… I see, that’s certainly true.”

“The contract is fine, and now we just need actor Kim Donghu to review the script and make his decision.”

As soon as he heard those words.

‘Now I understand why nothing strange ever gets entangled around Donghu-sang.’

Kiryu looked at Choi Seokho again.

This man was a perfect filter.

To protect all the artists in his agency.

While simultaneously protecting Kim Donghu, the dragon,

He was the perfect stream allowing the dragon to soar freely into the sky.

Anyway, after receiving Choi Seokho’s safety approval.

Time returns to the present.

‘I finally get to show this script to Donghu-sang.’

Kiryu nervously looked at Kim Donghu.

How would this man judge his script?

He had never felt this nervous in his life.

+++++

Kill or be killed.

The battlefield is extremely simple.

Human beings, who have developed intelligence over a long time.

Return to a primitive state in this place.

That is the battlefield.

Not even realizing their bladders have emptied, wetting themselves.

Swinging swords while shouting to overcome fear.

That is war.

A completely different dimension from modern times.

The era of brutally simple cold weapons.

And there, I…

“…”

I was hiding.

The reason is simple.

I don’t want to die from a blind sword strike.

“ARGGHHH!”

Just now, someone died from an ally’s sword.

When fear blinds people, how can they distinguish friend from foe?

When blood splatters on your face and changes the color of your clothes.

How many people could maintain composure in that situation?

Thunk!

Raise a sword high and bring it down forcefully, and a person dies.

It’s extremely simple.

Cutting through skin, slicing muscle, breaking bone.

Such complex processes don’t come to mind in the moment.

Swordsmanship, tactics, life-taking sword, death-dealing sword.

When did such difficult terms start decorating war?

Anyway, superficiality is the problem.

Look even now.

“Ugh, hrk…! Y-you, coward…!”

When dying, one should beg for life.

To curse the killer until the end.

What a pathetic display.

“So this is why it’s difficult to die smiling.”

There’s no need to pull out a sword stuck in someone’s body.

It’s heavy, and the blade is probably already damaged.

‘There’s nothing good where underlings kill each other.’

If there were at least a general here, maybe.

But here now are only those trying to improve their fate with their insignificant lives.

In such a place, I have only one job.

‘Hide quietly.’

Someone who suddenly collapses while trying to flee out of desperation.

Someone pretending to be dead—my job is to stab such a person in the back.

It’s not something I do without meaning.

Where should you stab to make a person die most helplessly?

Where are the vital points, how to cut, how to stab.

I was doing this to learn these things firsthand.

A kind of education.

In the safest and most independent way.

‘Learning elsewhere means becoming a disciple or whatever, too many useless things.’

I want to learn only what I want to learn.

In a world where you can’t even do what you want freely.

I had no desire to waste time in such places.

Thunk!

How many is that now?

Keeping an accurate count is important too.

While thinking about this.

“Who are you?!”

I’ve been caught.

The good news is that only one person caught me.

If there were many, I might not be able to escape.

It’s a very hopeful situation.

‘It was unrealistic not to be discovered in the first place.’

As time passes, people flee or die.

The numbers dwindle.

A small child walking around stabbing people.

It would be funny not to get caught.

“I asked who you are!”

How should I answer?

I hadn’t thought of a name to use in such situations.

Before, I always ran away as soon as I was caught.

But now, for some reason, I didn’t want to run.

So I just said.

“I don’t know.”

And with that, the world stops.

Whoosh!

The end of the script, my immersion breaks, and reality welcomes me back.

+++++

“…There’s no trace of Musashi in this work at all.”

The first thought that came to mind as soon as my immersion ended.

When I blurted this out, Director Kiryu’s eyes widened.

“Is it that obvious?”

“There’s not even a mention of Musashi anywhere in the script… and it seems strange to call it his youth.”

Yet no other name appears either.

So naturally, that’s what I had to think.

Director Kiryu, as if I had guessed correctly,

Clapped his hands lightly and spoke.

“That’s right. You can’t feel any trace of Musashi.”

“What? What do you mean…?”

“As you know, Donghu-sang, the public’s image of Musashi is very different from the historical Musashi.”

“I… know that.”

“There’s a lot of embellishment. In fact, that embellishment might be the core.”

But is there really a need to remove that embellishment?

Is what people really want to see the real Musashi?

Director Kiryu shook his head.

“I dislike putting philosophy into films. Having a philosophy while making something and having the finished product contain philosophy are different things.”

“…”

“What people need to watch a movie is a little money and time.”

And what makes them watch is entertainment.

This sudden passionate talk about film.

Director Kiryu was about to say more but quickly jumped to his conclusion.

“A great boxer who shocked the world, making 200 million people watch…”

An actor who has already earned 1.7 billion dollars through Tarzan.

What if such a person played Musashi? How entertaining would that be?

As if he had prepared a lot for this moment.

Director Kiryu’s eyes were shining brightly.

“Moreover, I want to aim for Cannes with this work.”

“Cannes?”

“Yes, Cannes. If a Japanese film starring a Korean actor playing Musashi wins at Cannes, how interesting would that be?”

After saying that, Director Kiryu stood up abruptly.

His expression suggested that continuing this conversation would be a waste.

“For more details… I’ll discuss them when Donghu-sang has reviewed my script and made a decision.”

Bow.

With those words, Director Kiryu left the room.

His exit was impressively disciplined and stylish.

That was all well and good, but.

‘…I was going to say yes, but he left before I could find the right timing.’

The timing was off.

+++++

At the same time.

“That senile old man Kiryu Sota is causing trouble again!”

“He went all the way to America with a script? Does that make any sense?! A Korean playing Musashi!”

In a conference room at a Japanese film production company.

“Japanese sensibilities and acting! Absolutely! Huh?! Shouldn’t a Japanese person play this role?!”

“At least bring him in for an audition! How can the lead be confirmed right away! For such a big film!”

With so much money invested!

People were extremely indignant.

Then.

“But why are you all complaining behind his back instead of saying something before he went to America?”

At someone’s words.

“…Ahem.”

Suddenly everyone fell silent.

Fighting with facts was cheating.

That was against the rules.